Blood-Slave
by Giuna
Summary: Fate linked Damon and Elena in a complex manner of life and death. For Elena it means to fulfil her destiny, while Damon has to contradict the challenge of his life. It's not going to be easy since Elena's horrible past continually finds a way to drive a wedge between them.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Hey you guys,

this is my first Delena fic. Honestly, it's my first fic ever, but it's not my first writing experience. The plot swirled in my mind for quite a while, and now it was about time to put it down. It's so much fun to write this story and I would love to share the joy with you.

I hope you're going to like it.

If you do, or even if you don't, please let me know and review :)

xoxo Giuna

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**Chapter 1**

Sitting there for already quite a while, he was absorbed in thoughts. Staring down into the half-full tumbler he held tight in his hands, he barely noticed his surroundings.

Only when the door of the New Yorker bar opened, his mind shot back to reality and his body was stiffening. The air draft brought a scent to the small bar that immediately got his full attention. It smelled so sweet, so delicious like nothing he had ever experienced before. Slowly, he turned around and his aquamarine blue eyes found the source of the intoxicating scent in an instant.

It was the girl who just rushed in. The wind framed her face with her waist-long, chocolate brown hair and brought another wave of her unique perfume straight to him. Together with her fast beating heart and her accelerated breathing, it cost him all his willpower to stop himself from lashing into her immediately. Instead, he gripped the Bourbon tumbler even tighter. With narrowed eyes and clenched jaw, he drank in her appearance.

She was slender with curves at the exact right spots, just the way he liked it best. His eyes lingered on her long bare legs, clad only in tiny denim shorts. Then, he let his looks move up her body over her skin tight, black tank top which gave him an adequate glimpse at her full breasts.

Only when she tucked a strand of her straight hair behind her ears, he realized that something was wrong. She wasn't out of breath because of a rush but because she was hunted. There was a panic in her deep brown eyes he knew all to well from his own victims at the very second they realized what he was, and what he was about to do. _How hadn't he noticed in the first place?_

Obviously, her mood had nothing to do with him, because she looked back over her shoulder as if to check if someone was following her. For him the situation seemed kind off ironic as she stumbled to the seat right next to him. He could barely imagine that there was someone she should be more afraid of than him.

While she sat down and slowly contented herself, he turned around once more. She hadn't registered him at all.

Still kind off shaky, she rested her head in her palms, breathing deeply in and out. After a few minutes she raised her head back up and searched the bar for the bartender. That was when her eyes finally found him. Of course she became aware of his beautiful face, with its ocean blue eyes, framed with thick black lashes and his pitch-black short hair which brought his eyes to shine even more. But that was all. No longing look, no smile as he had expected it. A little confused he frowned. Normally, he had a very different effect on women, or he used to have back in MysticFalls. Maybe the New Yorker girls had became callous since his last visit some decades ago. _Great! Really great!_

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked her, when he was back in place behind the bar.

"I need something strong!" she told him with a soft voice, but there was also a hint of desperation in it she didn't manage to suppress.

"What about a shot of Bourbon?" the bartender wanted to know.

"Sounds strong enough to me," she said but added quickly, "Make it double!"

The bartender smirked, turned around to fetch the bottle and a tumbler and poured her the Bourbon.

"Thanks!" she said, the second the bartender put her drink in front of her. Without hesitation she took it, swung her head back and drowned the drink in one single gulp. She grimaced and cleared her throat noisily at the sharp flavour in her mouth which burned her taste buds almost painfully.

"Rough day?" she heard a voice next to her, and moved her head to see the man on the other seat smiling at her.

"Rough life," she whispered sarcastically to herself.

"Sort of," she answered aloud and smiled slightly back at him. Actually, she wasn't in the mood for a conversation with a total stranger, but she could definitely use some distraction. Besides, she was in a local place; what should happen to her here?

"That makes us two," he said sympathetically and gave her a half-crooked smirk.

"Hey, Alaric? We need two more shots here!" he told the bartender and winked at her.

"Whoa, wait. I'm not so sure about that. My tolerance isn't pretty high," she admitted while she felt the warmth of her first drink spread through her entire body.

"Well, that is a pity. Just like drinking all alone," he pouted and waited for her to give in. He desperately wanted to know from who she was running away and why. And he was sure that some more alcohol couldn't hurt to find out even quicker.

"Fine, but only one more," she said empathically. She wasn't able to afford to get drunk. She needed all her senses. Especially her equilibrium, just in case she was forced to run again, although she was sure that she had accomplished to escape Mason and that he was still oblivious about her whereabouts. The only question was; for how long. A shiver ran through her body the moment she thought about him. She would never go back to him; she would rather die than go back to a life he had forced her in.

"There you go," the man next to her said and positioned the refilled tumbler right in front of her, washing away her dark thoughts.

He raised his glass to her while watching encouraging.

"Cheers!"

She imitated his gesture. "Cheers!" she said and both drowned their drinks.

"Yeah, much better, don't you think?" he asked and smirked at her grimaced face.

"Ha, yeah. If that stuff would taste a little bit better. It's kinda disgusting".

"Ouch. Bourbon is my favourite. Don't be so rude to a man's one true love," he responded and faked sulk.

She couldn't help but laugh, and recognized in this very second that she had forgotten how it actually felt like to smile. He joined in her laughter and knew that it was about time to introduce himself. Maybe if she knew his name, she would finally loosen up and told him what he wanted to know.

"I'm Damon by the way. Damon Salvatore," he told her and offered her his hand. She hesitated for a second but quickly brought herself to accept his gesture.

"I'm Elena Gilbert," she said smiling and their hands met.

Instantly, her smile froze on her face as a painful rush of electricity ran through her palm, shocking her to the core. Instinctively, she withdrew her hand from his firm handshake and looked fearfully into his ocean blue eyes which stared back into hers in disbelief. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew for sure that she needed to get away from him. _Now!_

"I… um… I got to go," she pressed through her lips, slipped from her seat and stumbled away from Damon.

"Hey, wait!" he shouted incredulously and jumped from his own seat to stop her, but she had already reached the exit of the bar. Damon was furious.

"What was that all about?" Alaric asked.

"She knows," Damon simply responded.

"Wait, you mean she knows that you're a vampire?" he whispered so none of the other guests would hear him.

"Positive," he snorted angrily.

"How the hell did she do that?"

"I have no fucking idea, but guess what? I'm gonna go and find out," he said, took his leather jacket and walked out of the bar like a predator hunting its prey.

It was ridiculously easy to track her down; he didn't even have to hurry. He could smell her, oh he could smell her. Her scent practically drew him to her; she had no chance of escaping him. It took him five minutes to find her, but he could have chased her down in under a minute if it had been possible to use his vampire speed. When he saw her standing near some traffic lights, Damon stopped at the pavement without hiding himself and observed her. His icy blue eyes pierced into her small back. She seemed lost in the crowded streets of New York, not knowing where to go, thus increasing his lust to catch her even more.

Suddenly, she turned around and her deep brown eyes locked with his and widened. He smirked while her face paled. She was frightened. First she stood perfectly still, but then she stumbled some steps backwards, turned around and ran into the other direction. That was all he needed. He ran after her a little faster than possible; within seconds he was so close to her, he could hear her heart beating fast and panicked in her chest. Damon could have grabbed her straightaway, but he waited until they where located on the same level as a small dark alley, before he wrapped his arms around her waist and drove her against the concrete wall of the building. She screamed in shock but froze instantly when she looked up into his murderous face.

"Well, hello again, Elena," he whispered in her ear while he grabbed her wrists and pinned them against the wall on each side of her head, holding her in place.

While he leaned hard against her, only inches away from her face, she could barely breathe.

"What's wrong with you? Let go of me!" she shouted at him wide-eyed but wasn't able to suppress the panic that vibrated in her every word.

"Mh…, actually, Elena, the question is, what's wrong with you!" His eyes roamed her face and lingered for a moment to long at her full lips before he pierced them back into hers. With her sweet, sweet scent he felt so damn attracted to her that he nearly forgot about the essential reason for trapping her there.

Elena on the other hand could hardly handle the proximity between them. Her heart thundered in her chest as his glances and the way he held her reminded her too badly of the way Mason had forced himself onto her so often. The might of those memories rushed through her in a terrifying way until she couldn't hold it together any longer.

"Take your hands of me!" she screamed as loud as she could and started to fight back, but noticed instantly that she was much to weak to get a chance to flee from Damon.

"Please… let go of me. I can't do that anymore. Please!" she begged with tears in her doe eyes. She was so scared of re-experiencing the torture again that she could barely stand upright. With closed eyes she threw her head back and forth while tears ran down her pale cheeks. She wanted to disappear, to open her eyes and to find herself in a place where no one would ever hurt her again, but of course that didn't happen. When she opened her eyes again she looked straight into a pair of blue ones. Searching his face for any hint of what he was going to do to her, the pained expression on her face screamed for mercy.

"Whoa, Elena, chill, I just asked you something!" Damon frowned in confusion as he regarded her sternly. He wasn't even sure if she had heard him; suddenly she seemed far away. Something was wrong. He had been rough and maybe a little intrusive, _okay_, but that wasn't a reason for a mental break down.

"Please don't do that to me, I'm begging you!" she whimpered and stared at him helplessly and totally on edge.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Elena. Please stop crying!" he whispered soothingly and loosened his grip on her wrists. Now dead certain about what exactly happened to her. Although he didn't do emotions, he somehow felt for this girl.

"I can't, I can't breathe!" she panicked the moment she felt her throat constricting and her terrified eyes widened but looked straight through him.

"Damn it, Elena. You need to calm down! Come on, breathe!" he shouted at her but didn't reach her in any way. He wasn't going to be successful that way so he knew there was only one other chance to make her think clearly. Well, and for him to get his badly needed answers.

"Elena, focus!" he said in a calm voice and searched for her eyes while he brought his hands to her cheeks.

"Look at me, Elena!" he demanded, but she tried to squirm herself out of his grasp.

"No! Take your hands off! Let go of me!" she screamed again and once more Damon got the feeling, that she went through a whole different situation than the one in which they where in. So he tried something else to get her to look at him.

"I don't want to touch you, Elena! I just need you to look at me!" he said to get through to her, but when the words left his mouth, he suddenly knew that he had lied. He wanted to kiss her, no he needed to kiss her, but not now, not like this. Besides, she finally looked at him in confusion and he snapped his chance. He invaded her deep brown eyes with his and she fell instantly in his trap.

"Elena, I want you to calm down!" he compelled her.

"I will calm down," she repeated; when one last tear trickled down her cheek before her eyes became empty.

"Well, that's more like it," Damon sighed, quite happy that she was silent for once.

"Okay, Elena. I've got lots of questions for you but I definitely want to leave this alley first. So listen! I'm going to take you to my place, its not far from here. While we walk, I want you to behave commendable, no screaming, no running, just perfectly nice. Do you get it?" he asked and examined her in depth.

"I get it," she simply answered with a blank expression on her face.

"Good girl!" he told her and took her arm to drag her with him.

Damon unlocked the door to his apartment, shoved Elena eagerly over the threshold right into the living room and closed the door behind him.

"Wow, we made it!" he said sarcastically, more to himself than to Elena, glad to be at home without any potential observers.

"Take a seat," he ordered and waved to the big black leather corner sofa on the opposite side of the entrance.

"I go fetch something to drink," he added as he already entered the grey, high gloss open plan kitchen.

Elena sat down as Damon had told her. _What was he doing to her?_ She didn't get it. She felt like he had hypnotized her or something like that. She wanted to run as fast as she could, but she had no other choice than to do exactly what he wanted her to do. The second he had commanded her to calm down, she had sensed that her body obeyed his words, although she wasn't ready to do it on her own, but at least, the spiral of disgusting memories concerning Mason had vanished. Anyway, the whole situation had been more than intimidating because even though he had told her to calm down there was still the fear of what might come next, only without the natural reaction of her body. She felt caged inside of herself and that was horrible as well. Silently, she watched him re-entering the living room and placing a glass of water in front of her and a glass of Bourbon in front of himself.

"Drink!" he said and sat down next to her, watching her firmly. Elena took the glass and brought it up to her lips. She wasn't thirsty, but that didn't matter. Sip by sip she emptied the content of her glass while Damon smirked at her in satisfaction. She hated him for doing this to her and anger started to rise up inside of her.

"So, Elena, I told you before that there are some things I really want to know about you. Let's start then, shall we?" he asked, although he didn't expect her to answer anyway. He leaned back into the cushions, turned to face her and lowered his right arm behind her back onto the backrest of his sofa. Making eye contact with her he began: "One. What do you know about me?"

Internally, she frowned. _What a stupid question was that?_ _What should she know about him? She didn't know him in the slightest. _

"I know nothing about you, Damon. We met less then an hour ago," she started. No, wait; there is something I can tell about you anyway. You are a psycho and… a dick!" she snapped at him and was glad that she was able to let her anger out on him. He watched her quite confused but also a little amused and cocked his head to one side.

"Rude much?" he teased and lifted one eyebrow.

"Normally not," she just answered.

"That's gratifying. Listen! Two: Why did you draw your hand away from my handshake?"

_Uh_, that was a less stupid question and much more difficult to answer. And actually, she didn't want to answer it at all but when she looked into his eyes, the power of his will over her broke her resistance.

"Because in the moment our hands met it felt like an electric shock right through my body. That frightens me to death". _Damn him._ _Why couldn't she just shut up?_

"Interesting, but you have no idea what that could mean, haven't you?" he dug deeper.

"Obviously not," she said unnerved.

"Rude again. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! You better be lucky to be clueless. Three is it then. From whom are you running? Apart from me, of course!"

_Oh no._ His questions were heading into a direction she was definitely not okay with. She hesitated while the stare of his eyes grew even more firmly. The pressure behind his words took her breath away.

"Answer me!" he shouted angrily and thereby beating her defense.

"Mason!" she answered fast, freeing herself from his invisible grip around her throat. "I'm running from Mason!" she repeated.

"Who the hell is Mason?"

_He needed to stop digging!_ The anger inside of her started to feel almost as heavy as his hypnosis.

"He is my ex-boyfriend!" she told him with clenched teeth.

"Hmm," she heard coming from him as he watched her with narrowed eyes.

"So, tell me, what did he do to you that made you run away?"

_No!_ Never ever would she give him the answer to this question. She bit down on her lower lip, so the pain would distract her from answering. She managed to close her eyes and suddenly she felt her heartbeat accelerating to the confusion and above all the anger inside of her.

"No!" she screamed at him and opened her eyes at the same time. In an instant, she rose to her feet and backed away from him.

"I'm not going to answer this question. I'm not going to do anything you want me to do ever again! I'm done with that kinky game of yours! I'm leaving!" She headed to the front door and reached for the doorknob, but in the very second her fingers slipped over it, Damon caught her elbow from behind.

"I wouldn't bet on that!" he growled at her, turned her around and pinned her wrists against the door. _Again. Shit._

"You are a peculiar little thing, aren't you?" he asked, his face only inches away from hers. He could feel her heavy breathing on his skin while he looked deep into her terrified brown doe eyes, and once more her unique scent brought him to the edge of losing control.

_What was it about her?_ She drove him crazy with her bold nature and her genuine beauty. He searched her face for a hint about how this first so weak girl, was suddenly able to resist his strong compulsion. That was new to him. No one had ever managed to push him away before.

"Back off!" she hissed at him.

"You're not going to do that creepy mind thing to me again!" she added less afraid but with increased self-confidence. She had accomplished to resist his hypnosis once, she could do it again. Angrily, she stared back into his damn blue eyes, and craned her neck provocatively in his direction.

Either she was really brave or pretty stupid, but nonetheless, the way she tried to defend herself against him was an incredible turn on to him. It cost him all his strength to keep his cravings at bay. Just gazing back at her, he grinded his teeth.

"What, no dumb-ass comment?" she hurled defiance, also her heart beat fast in her chest.

"Watch it, Elena!" he warned in a low voice. "You're starting to play with fire. I'm sure you don't want to get yourself burned, right?" he enlarged his warning as his gaze darted between her eyes and her lips. _God, he wanted her so damn much._

"Are you threatening me?" the hard words slipped her mouth just the moment she realized, she had crossed the line. His grip around her wrists tightened while he lowered his face even closer to hers. "Now, I'm so past threatening!" he said slowly and with one fluid move he brought his lips over hers.

"Ugh!" she pressed her lips together in disgust and stared at him wide-eyed. Shell-shocked, she couldn't move just feel his mouth and in a fraction of a second her heart seemed to tremble as her world turned upside down. Damon pulled his head back; searching her eyes for a reaction.

Hardly breathing, and with dilated pupils, she gazed back at him when a switch inside of her flipped. She didn't understand what was happening to her in that moment, she simply knew that she wanted him; needed him. She looked sensually into his eyes and crashed her lips back on his.

He had expected anything, but not this to say the least. To finally feel her warm lips on his mouth made him groan in desire while she parted her lips to grant him access to her mouth. In that instant he deepened the kiss and released her wrists out of his grasp at the same time.

Immediately, she wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her hands in his pitch-black hair and felt his tongue slipping inside her mouth as his hands hold her tight around the small of her back. Actually, she had no idea what she was doing; she simply sensed an irresistible pull to him as if some kind of automatism had started inside of her. And there was no way out of it, she just couldn't stop; she wanted more… so much more, although she couldn't put it into words yet. His silk-like tongue invading her cavern drove her crazy and made her moan straight into his mouth in return. He responded her by digging his fingers even deeper into her flesh and dragging her closer into his embrace.

Kissing him so passionate and tugging on him like she was begging him for more, he felt himself harden against her stomach. _Fuck. What was she doing?_ Almost losing his self-control he interrupted their kiss, turned Elena around, pressed her back against his hard chest, and encircled her with his muscular arms; taking a deep breath.

"No!" she whined "Don't stop kissing me! Please!" she begged nearly desperately.

_Damn it! She wanted it, right?_ Only he didn't get why, especially regarding to the fact that she seemed to have some serious issues in that department. With all his strength he tried one last lime.

"You don't want to go there, Elena," he whispered into her ear while his hands rested right on her rib cage, his thumbs brushing the lower part of her breasts slightly. She sighed heavily. He smirked and breathed in her intoxicating scent. Ok, he wasn't playing nice, but who could blame him? He couldn't remember when he had wanted a woman so fucking much ever before.

"I don't know what I want anymore, but I do know what I need!" With that she turned her head to the side, grabbed his neck firmly with her left hand and started to invade his mouth with her tongue all over again as her right hand shoved one of his hands over her breast.

Moaning, he sucked on her lower lip and cupped her full breast lustfully. Damon could feel her nipple harden under the thin fabric of her black tank top, thus increasing his need to have his way with her considerably

"Ah… Damon …mhmm," she groaned his name into his mouth and guided his hands under her tank top. Hearing her saying his name for the first time… like this ...brought him to the point of no return and he was overfond of doing her the favour of touching her silken bare skin.

She felt his hands wander up her stomach, leaving goose bumps all over her body. She shivered as he reached her breasts again and smiled against her lips.

"Front close bra, huh? How convenient!" She breathed in sharply on his comment, remembering why she was wearing it, but when she felt him open the clasp in a smooth motion and he looked down into her eyes she melted away and forgot about the memory that had stolen itself into her mind. The sensation of his hands, finally stroking her bare breasts evoked a craving inside of her, she had never experienced before, sending a tingle straight between her thighs. Kissing her senseless he teased her nipples until she couldn't stand still anymore.

"Ah… Damon …I," she moaned nearly frustrated, still not able to put into words what she really wanted him to do.

"I know," he answered in a low voice, pulled his right hand away from her breast and placed it over the waistband of her denim shorts. Her breathing accelerated instantly as she felt him caress the delicate skin of her belly, before he slid his hand inside her pants. She inhaled sharply when his fingers reached their destination and she rested her head against his shoulder. The only thing she was able to do at that point was to feel. And that she did. She could feel him hard against her back and right between her upper legs. With low pressure, he moved his fingers over her hot damp panties and made her forget her name in the process. No one had ever touched her like this before, and she couldn't help but groan his name again.

"Its okay," he said soothingly. "Just let go." Damon kissed her temple and kept his head there. He didn't know why he was so tender with her. Maybe because of what had happened to her in the past, or because this moment really felt special. God knows why.

It was a damn good feeling to cause her pleasure, so when she started to tremble in his arms, craving for more, he tugged her panties aside. He slowly let his fingers glide over her wet, smooth slit, back and forth, back and forth, teasing her clit along the way.

"Fuck, Elena. You feel so good," he breathed out aroused and with closed eyes. The sound of his voice and the lust in it drove her over the edge.

"Oh God, Damon!" She wiggled under his touch and closer to her release she suddenly knew exactly what she needed him to do.

"Damon… Bite me!" she nearly cried, feeling waves of pure devotion running through her body, not able to think straight anymore.

_Wait a minute! What did she just say?_ He stopped in the motion; slightly confused. "No! Damon. Please… Bite me! Now!" she ordered and moved her hips desperately against his hands.

_What the fuck was he waiting for?_ Who cared if she knew what he was, or not. He continued to satisfy her with his fingers while he lowered his head over her neck, tucking her long brown strands out of his way. Elena shuddered in his arms, moaning loudly, waiting for him to fulfil her wish.

"There you go, babe," he whispered as he slipped his index finger inside of her oh-so wet slit and pulled in and out at a steady pace while his thumb circled around her clit over and over again. Her inner walls started to tighten around his finger. She held her breath while her whole body seemed to explode. When she screamed out her release, Damon finally sank his long sharp fangs into the delicate flesh of her neck.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

Hello to all of you! I'm back with another chapter!

Thank you so much for your interest in this story and the favs and follows. And a special thank you to Karolina94, monygrl and Alyssa92 for your kind reviews, they literally made my heart jump, so THANK YOU!

The lovely madiruth22 was my beta for this chapter.

I hope you'll enjoy it and please let me know what you think...

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**Chapter 2**

Elena's eyes were widened in shock. It hurt and felt so sensual at the same time it made her dizzy. _What was he doing to her anyway?_ She could barely remember what she had told him to do; everything was blurred inside of her head. The only two things she was able to perceive were his now unmoving hand between her thighs and his mouth over her neck.

_Was he biting her? Drinking from her?_ The realization should have terrified her, but to be honest, quite the opposite was the case. Actually, that was what she wanted him to do right after he had kissed her in the first place. Now, the feeling of him swallowing her lifeblood hold such a great satisfaction for her; she could barley handle that overwhelming experience. Elena heard him gulping every single sip he took from her, moaning as he went. Slowly, her legs started to malfunction and tiny white stars twinkled in front of her view; she embraced this feeling and let it lull her into a state of peace. She let it consume her completely until her heart beat slowed drastically. Her view blackened and her senses vanished.

By the sound of her tardy heart beat, he stopped abruptly. _What the fuck did he do?_

"Elena?" Concerned, Damon sank to his knees, holding her limp body firmly in his lap. "Damn it, Elena! Open your eyes!" he shouted at her; carefully shaking her shoulders. He started to panic. That was the last damn thing he wanted for her to happen. Although he had to admit, it had never been harder for him to stop himself from drinking too much. Her blood had tasted… special…completely different from any other blood he had ever tasted before. It tasted simply like his favorite flavor, just like he wanted it to taste. It was unworldly good. Too good to drink it just once in his lifetime; she couldn't die, he needed her alive. Frantically he raised his wrist to his mouth and slammed his still elongated canines into his flesh, blood spilling out.

"Elena, you have to drink, honey!" he ordered, bringing his wrist to her mouth, opened it up and fitted his bleeding lower arm inside of it. "C'mon, Elena. Drink!" he said desperately and forced his wrist even deeper into her mouth, stretching its corners extremely.

When the first drops of his blood hit her tongue, she shivered slightly, adjusting to the unknown taste but swallowed nonetheless. Immediately, she felt a rush of pure energy roll through her body, reaching every part, however small it may be. She managed to relax for a moment but unfortunately, together with the energy, something else was palpable again. She opened her eyes, which mirrored her pain. The corners of her mouth ached while he pressed his wrist against them. Suddenly fighting him desperately, he let go of her instantly. For a fraction of a second he was just relieved that she wasn't dead.

"What the hell, Damon?" She climbed out of his lap as fast as she could; her face grimaced in shock and confusion.

"What happened?" she panted while tucking her hair behind her ears. She watched him quite embarrassed, not able to look him into his blue eyes, because she knew exactly what had happened, but she didn't know why.

He took a deep breath "We…I…You told me to…," but he couldn't find the right words. Another first; when was he ever at a loss for words? He clenched his teeth searching her eyes, searching for a silent understanding, but she wouldn't look at him. He could hear her heart beat accelerating again. Her chest lifted and lowered at a fast pace until she couldn't stand it any longer.

"I need to leave!" she bit her lower lip nervously, not knowing if he would let her go. Taking some slow steps away from him, she then pierced his eyes, being on the edge of despair. He just nodded faintly notable; he knew it would be wrong to force her to stay, that was something she seemed to know all too well and he didn't want that for her. Although, somehow he knew that he would find her, indifferent where she planned to go.

She nodded back at him; as she reached the door she turned the doorknob and without another word, slipped out of his apartment, leaving him behind never wanting to look back again. Damon stared at the still open door for quite a while, absorbed in thoughts; barley noticing his surroundings.

It was already dark outside as Elena ran as fast as she could through the colorful illuminated streets of New York. She had no idea where precisely she wanted to end up; her current thought was just about getting as far away from Damon as possible. She was so freaking upset with herself that her eyes started to fill with tears.

_What did she do? _Not long ago she had so desperately promised herself that she would never let a man touch her again. She was absolutely not able to decipher why she had acted like this, especially after such a short time she had accomplished to escape Mason. The thought of him sent an unpleasant chill along her spine and made her run even faster. What had happened between Damon and her, had made her forget her angst-inducting memories of the past two years momentarily. That was the only good thing she got out of it; ignoring the silent voice inside of her, that called her a liar. Ok, actually the way Damon had touched her, had felt incredible but strange and intimidating at the same time, too. At least afterwards it felt like that.

She didn't even know up to that point, how it could feel, when a man touches a woman just to give her pleasure. She only knew the way it felt, when a man takes what he hasn't even asked for it at all and how much it hurts. Not only for the body, but explicitly for the soul.

She had met Mason only a few days after her parents had died in a car accident. At that time she had only been 18 and had still lived at her parent's house in Waterville, Maine. It had only taken him some soothing words, and she had trusted him instantly. She had been naïve and lost and just glad to have at least one person left, but that hadn't lasted for long. Mason had controlled her every step, had shielded her from her few friends until he wouldn't let her leave the house at all. Although, she had already guessed how dangerous he was, she had started a fight with him, but that had resulted in the first time he not only beat her up but also forced himself on her. He had been so relentless with her; she had thought her fragile body would break under his violence. She could still and would forever remember the sound of her own screams of pain. A sound she hadn't even known she was able to make.

After that he locked her up in the basement. She was allowed to come upstairs for a couple of hours during the day. Especially when he had wanted her; unfortunately he had wanted her a lot. She had tried to escape him a couple of times, but that had never ended well for her. For nearly two years, the pain, the fear, the disgust and the shame was all she knew. She hadn't seen, hadn't spoken to anybody but him, all she had left, were her precious memories about more peaceful days, when her parents had still been alive and she had been a happy young woman, excited about the future that lay right in front of her.

Then, only 36 hours ago, Mason had made the first mistake within month; he had forgotten to lock the front door while she was upstairs. She hadn't hesitated a second to run away, although she had felt uncomfortable in the clothes he had picked out for her for that day. She had hated it so much that he had always wanted her to wear clothes, which had never left much to the imagination. Especially, she hated the fucking front close bras he loved so damn much. _Argh._

Said thing still hung open under her tank top when she entered a hostel. She hadn´t even her purse with her, she had only been able to grab an envelope with some money. She had found it on the sideboard on her way out. Hopefully, she would at least be able to pay for a room. Most of the money she had spent on the bus ride to New York. It wasn't a proposed decision to go there; it had been a coincidence that the first bus she had reached called New York its destination.

The next day she needed to go to the police, she could use some help and wanted so desperately to feel somehow safe again. For once she was lucky; the hostel had a free room left, which she was able to afford and entered it within minutes. Closing the door behind her, she more than welcomed the feeling of being all by herself. For the last two years, this was the first time she simply could relax, well knowing that she mustn't be afraid of him calling for her in need. When she reached the narrow bed and lay down on the cushion, she felt the exhaustion overwhelming her immediately.

_"'__Lena__!" She heard is harsh voice through the concrete walls of the basement and froze. He couldn't be serious, could he? She had been upstairs with him only a couple of hours ago. She still felt badly sore and had hoped, to have at least one day to recover from the sheer brutality he had used on her. What was wrong with him? How could he even enjoy having his way with her, while she always just lay there, limb and with an empty expression on her face; desperately trying to let her mind slip to another place where she was rid of him. The first couple of months she had fought him every single time, but when she had realized that he took pleasure in her defense she had surrendered. She hadn't been able to keep him from violating her anyway; he was so much stronger than her. In the end, she wasn't more than a living doll in his claws. _

_"__'__LENA__!" he screamed furiously down the stairs. "Don't make me come down there and take you upstairs by myself!" he threatened her. Elena inhaled sharply and jumped up from her wooden chair she had sat in, while reading a book. The basement was the only room he had avoided to take her in, and she wanted to leave it at that. So she moved around her bed and went upstairs. Step by step she forced her feet further to the next session of pain and disgust with one of the two persons on earth she hated the most, the other person being herself. Even after such a long time, she couldn't forgive herself for being so stupid. For trusting him; for letting him inside her house, changing this place that had been her beloved home for nearly her entire life into her personal hell on earth Now, she had to pay for her stupidity._

_He waited for her on the basement door, watching her eagerly while she came closer to him. When she saw his facial expression, she could barley keep herself from puking. Mason was a tall, muscular man with very short blonde hair and small grey eyes. The first time she had seen him, she had felt attracted to him, but when she looked at him now she thought she had never met an uglier guy. _

_"What is it Mason?" she asked tired as she reached the last step, before entering the living room._

_"What do you think?" he asked back rhetorically, quite amused about her question. "Get your ass on the couch! I'll be right back. Just need to pick up something first!" he told her, gesturing to her destination and headed around the corner. She sighed not able to think of what might happen to her next. Her gaze went to the front door, longing so much for escaping this whole shit, she had maneuvered herself into. She blinked once. _

That couldn't be true, could it?_ The chain of the front door wasn't closed. Usually it was locked and Mason always carried the key on his body. With a pounding heart, she didn't think twice about it running towards the door, suppressing the notion of the consequences she would have to suffer if he would catch her. She knew that she had just a few seconds before he would hear her; as fast as she was able to she gained the door grasping for an envelope with some dollar notes in it, she noticed running past the sideboard and opened the door. _

_"Fuck!" Mason screamed from the first floor, followed by heavy footsteps. "Don't you dare __̒__Lena!" she heard him freaking out behind her but didn't care. She just ran without looking back, heading to a bus station right at the end of the street_

_̒__Lena! Stop running!" Mason yelled from not so far away as she could hear his paces getting dangerously closer. With sweaty palms she sped up once more like the devil incarnate was after her and ran onto the middle of the street. No one was to be seen. Where the hell was everyone? She fought for air while her lungs burned inside of her, she wouldn't be able to keep her pace for much longer. Panic mixed under her exhaustion when the bus station came in sight. There stood one single bus, waiting for the last two passengers to climb in. She wasn't able to catch it, was she? _

_"HELP ME! PLEASE! WAIT FOR ME!" she cried out as loud as it was possible. "Please wait! Help!" She started to sob franticly. Oh my God, please wait!_

_"Give it up, __Lena__! Freeze!" _Damn it._ Mason was so close but she couldn't give up, no, that was her last chance. If he would get a hold of her, he would never let her run away again._

_"WAIT!" she screamed once more as she ultimately arrived at the bus entrance and jumped in. "Close the door! Close the door!" she cried hysterically and turned around to see Mason slamming against the now closed door._

_"NO! Fuck, '__Lena__! I will find you! Do you hear me? You cannot escape me! I will hunt you down and when I catch you then…" She couldn't hear his threat anymore; the bus driver had already started the engine and was leaving the bus station. Elena just stood in the middle of the bus, watching Mason kicking at a trash can incredibly furious._

_"What was that all about?" the bus driver asked soft and kind of worried._

_"That was about you, saving my life," Elena whispered as tears of relief trickled over her face. _

In her bed, Elena turned around and for once she was able to sleep easy.

Damon closed the door slowly, preparing himself a tumbler of Bourbon and sinking into his couch, watching the door fiercely.

_What the fuck just happened?_ He wasn't able to figure it out. The whole situation had been more than twisted. What had leaded her to suddenly kiss him back? She obviously hadn't been into him in the first place, or at least after he had trapped her. What had changed so instantly? He was absolutely oblivious to it. After all he had forced a kiss onto her lips; couldn't be quite the turn on for her, could it? Indeed, the hot part had started exactly after that, but he couldn't be sure anyway. And then, of course, there was the most illogical thing of all. She had told him to bite him.

_Hello?_ She didn't even know that he was a vampire. Chewing it over and over, he felt almost certain that she hadn't had a clue of what she had asked for. Otherwise she wouldn't have been so confused that all she had wanted to do was leaving as fast as she could. To be honest, that was the last thing he had wanted her to do. The thought of her being alone out there, hunted by God knows what, suddenly evoked his protective instinct.

_Jesus, what was wrong with him?_ A few hours ago he had gladly ripped her throat out, but now? Damon ran his fingers through his raven hair and made a decision. The next day he was going to find her and then he would confront her with all the nonsense spiralling in his head. Although she didn't seem to look forward to another encounter, he just knew that he needed to be close to her in the very near future. With every minute she wasn't with him the wish to be close to her started to feel like a basic need.

_How odd was that?_ He breathed out noisily. He needed a distraction, _yeah_, that would help. He nodded to himself, jumped to his feet, grasped his leather jacket, throwing it over his shoulder and walked out of his apartment.

He wasn't on the road for long until he arrived at "The Underground," his favourite club in town. He greeted the guy on the door and went down the stairs into the basement. Although his last visit to New York was long ago, he remembered vividly that the women who came here were overfond of a filthy dance that always resulted in a bloody midnight snack. He entered the club through a foggy curtain of smoke and smirked with narrowed eyes.

The dance floor was full of people, moving lasciviously to the heavy bass beat coming from all over the semi-lighted club. Damon went over to the bar and ordered a shot of Bourbon. While swallowing the contents of his glass, he drank in his surroundings, searching for his prey. Leering he found what he was looking for. A pretty brunette on his right was swaying her hips and was obviously enjoying herself. Her long hair semi-covered her bare shoulders, allowing him a glance at her delicious pulse point when she moved her head back and forth to the rhythm of the music.

He examined her from head to toe and delighted in the way her black, sparkling strapless dress fit her like a second skin. At first her eyes were closed, but Damon watched her eagerly so after a short time she felt him lingering on her body. She opened her eyes and found his own one's in a fraction of a second; smiling. He licked his lips unconsciously and moved slowly towards her; his piercing eyes never leaving hers. When he reached her he didn't hesitate to place his hands on her hips, supporting and joining her in her motion. To touch her felt good, but it was no comparison to the feeling when he had touched Elena.

_No! No! No! Focus! _He breathed out, trying to collect himself. The girl in front of him put her arms around his neck, coming closer to his face. That distracted him enough to let his hands wander down the small of her back and lower to her ass. As he squeezed she let her head fell back unaware of showing him exactly what he wanted to see. When she looked back at him her gaze was full of lust, her lips already parted. Leisurely she turned around so that her back was against his hard chest and his strong arms encircled her slender form.

_Fuck!_ _So much for distraction!_ He wasn't able to stop himself from mirroring the way he had touched Elena on that strange girl he hadn't even talked to. He nearly drowned in the feeling of reliving the moments he had had with Elena. The girl in his arms started to moan but suddenly turned around again, kissing him heavily on the lips. Taken by surprise he got angry. What was she thinking? That wasn't the way it was supposed to be! He growled and shoved her backwards.

"To the toilets!" he commanded rudely

"Gladly!" she answered seductively, smiling all over her face, happy to get a hottie like him between her hungry legs. With his hands on her back, he pushed her fiercely through the crowd, towards a booth on the floor to the toilets. Slamming her against the cold dirty wall, her hands were all over him within seconds, not observing his change of mood.

"Stop!" he barked as he made eye contact with her. He had enough of her fiddling "You were suppose to be a distraction, unfortunately you horribly failed. We will be done in a minute. Hold still, don't scream," he compelled her, freeing his fangs and biting her unceremoniously and mercilessly into her neck. The moment the first drop of her blood hit his tongue, he knew that something was incredibly wrong. The girl's blood tasted like mud! He swallowed nonetheless, but only to vomit it out in a cough attack.

"Urg! What the fuck? Are you sick or something?" he managed to asked in between coughs. The girl stared at him with an empty expression on her face.

"No, I'm not sick," she answered monotonous. "Than what the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted angrily.

"There is nothing wrong with me," she insisted.

"Fine," he took a deep breath fighting for his self-control. The last thing he needed was a dead, bloody body to get rid of in a town with lots of curious people but less then soft ground to bury a corpse.

"Forget about me and everything that happened in the last hour!" he ordered, turned around and stormed away to the stairway.

Back on the street, his anger turned into rage. When she was fine than… maybe he was the problem…

_Argh!_ That was definitely not his day. With an aggressive expression on his face, he headed straight to his apartment. He needed proof. If something was wrong with him, he needed to know as soon as possible. Entering the lobby of his building, he reassured himself that he was alone and used his vamp speed to hurry upstairs. He opened the door and slammed it close in one swift motion, running to his fringe in the kitchen. When he opened it, he instantly grabbed one of the five blood bags he had deposited there just in case.

He unexceptionally preferred blood straight from the vein, but it was always better to have a backup blood source. He renounced to rip it open but readily sank his elongated fangs directly into it. He stiffened immediately and spited the first sip disgusted into the sink. It also tasted like mud. _Fuck!_ To be on the safe side he also tried the other four bags, but the result remained the same. Frustrated, he left the kitchen that was covered in blood now and sank down onto his couch, not able to build one clear thought.

He sat there for hours, without moving at all; he just stared blankly at the door. When the sun was up for a couple of hours he finally started to move again. He grabbed his cell phone from the coffee table and scrolled through his contacts. He stopped at his brother's name and hesitated. Stefan had been the reason why he had left MysticFalls in the first place.

Stefan and his oh so perfect Barbie doll Caroline. Once they had returned to the small town after some decades, he and Stefan used to live in the old boarding house all by themselves, but after the day Stefan had met Caroline, everything had started to change. Their relationship had never been easy but with Caroline entering their lives and their home, it got worse. On one hand Damon was happy for his brother, because he eventually stopped brooding and started living, but on the other hand Damon simply wasn't in to this rainbows and unicorns scenario that had spread out in front of him. And to be honest, he just wasn't the biggest fan of the 20-year-old human female.

Every single minute of the day Caroline behaved so buggingly girly it made him want to run a mile. After a couple of months that had been literally what he had done. Ok, a few miles more than only one, but just to make sure. Damon hadn't been honest about the reason for his departure but only to not hurt Stefan. He had told him that he had longed for the Big Apple for quite a while and that it seemed to be the right time since Stefan got Caroline to keep company. Despite this, his old friend Alaric had moved to New York a couple of month ago and he kind of missed his drinking buddy. Although they had kept in touch, this would be the first serious phone call in a while.

"Damon, hey, what's up big brother?" Stefan nearly sang into the phone. Still on cloud nine. Damon rolled his eyes; sighing.

"Hey, baby bro. You sound good. Everything fine?" he tried to small talk but failed enormously. "Yep, everything's fine here. But you don't sound so good. What's wrong?" Stefan asked concerned.

"You've got me there," Damon said rueful.

"And?" Stefan went into it.

"And I'm screwed. I can't keep any blood down," he answered and sank back to the cushions.

"What? Why is that?"

"I don't know Stefan. I tried a girl, I tried 5 blood bags, it had all tasted like mud!" Damon said out loud, his frustration swinging in every syllable.

"Shit! I have never heard about something like that. Did something happen to you before? I don't know… magic or something like that?" Stefan asked baffled.

"To be honest, there was indeed something magical that happened to me yesterday, but not a witch if that's what you are getting at."

"Then what was it?"

"I met a girl at the bar, we talked and when we shook hands she somehow sensed, that I'm tcha what…at least that I'm dangerous, I think," Damon wondered out load.

"I don't get it. You mean she sensed that you are dangerous or something, but not that you are a vampire?"

"Yes!"

"How do you know for sure?"

"What do you think?"

"Compulsion. Of course! Because there is no other way to get some answers, right? What about posing a polite question?" Stefan suggested.

"You're not serious, are you? Apart from that, the whole situation wasn't that simple!"

"Then enlighten me!" Stefan claimed

Damon sighed. "Well, I compelled her, took her home to ask some more questions and then she broke my compulsion," Damon made a brief break; he knew that Stefan would want to say something about that.

"You're kidding, right?" Stefan said shocked.

"Nope, not at all!"

"But that is not possible, is it?"

"I don't know. I have heard about people, who were able to resist a vampire's compulsion but only after years of practice. So no, she wasn't supposed to be up to this"

"And what happened then? No wait, let me guess. She tried to run, you trapped her and bit her," Stefan hissed.

"Wow! Bravo brother! But unfortunately you missed something. I forced a kiss onto her lips, and then she suddenly was all over me and told me to bite her," Sparing his brother the delicious details.

"Wait, she told you to bite her without knowing that you're a vampire? Is she in to the kinky stuff, or what?" Stefan giggled.

"Watch it baby bro. It was nothing like that. After all she seemed confused and shocked about what had happened. I'm pretty sure that she didn't do anything on purpose," Damon said protectively.

"You know what? Whatever is wrong with you, it might have something to do with her. Go find her and try out if her blood works on you. I will talk to Elijah. Maybe he had heard something similar over the centuries," Stefan pronounced.

"I would appreciate that. I will call you when I have found her. Thank you, brother!" Damon said honestly.

"No problem!"

They hung up and Damon went for the door.

Elena jumped awake, feeling out of breath. She yanked her hands up to her throat but everything seemed fine, except that she wasn't getting enough air into her lungs. Hardly breathing she turned to the side to get a glimpse of the clock positioned on the nightstand. _Whoa!_ It was almost noon! She had slept for over 12 hours! Unfortunately, she didn't felt rested at all.

When she climbed out of her bed, her whole body felt odd. Not only that she could hardly breathe but her head was pounding, too. As she reached the threshold of the bathroom a heavy dizziness forced her to latch on to the doorframe. She started to breathe erratic as a wave of panic washed over her and her heart began to race in her chest.

_What was wrong?_ Maybe it was a panic attack. She just needed to calm down. With all her strength she forced herself to breath in and out at a slow pace. After a minute she felt a little better and continued her way to the sink. She splashed some cold water into her face and settled down. Watching herself in the mirror, she frowned. Somehow she looked a little different than normally…kind of puffy.

_Odd, too!_ She raised an eyebrow in confusion; touching her face warily she shook her head in disbelief. She must have been fantasising. Carefully, she undressed herself, stepped into the shower, closed her eyes to relax herself and let the hot water wash away her concerns. Or at least, that had been her plan. As the hot water ran down her slender body, she stiffened straightaway. The odd feeling was instantly back and her heart was pounding like mad. Suddenly she felt sick and managed to reach the toilet just in time.

She gagged but nothing came up her stomach. Exhausted she sank down next to the toilet and rested her head against the sink, to cool down her heated face. She needed help. Whatever was wrong with her was serious. She waited a couple of minutes until she felt able to stand up again. With all her might, she dressed and left the hostel room.

Lurching through the hostel's exit, she didn't discern the worried voice of the receptionist, offering to help. Elena didn't know what she was doing or where she was going, it seemed as if her feet had their own will all of a sudden. She wasn't able to notice anything anymore. Neither of the strange expressions on the faces of the passing people nor the street she was stumbling on. Her view was blurred her own expression blank. Her body was swollen to the touch. Time went by, but then in the fraction of a second, there were arms around her. Arms she remembered and felt safe in.

Damon's arms.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Hello again.

Since TVD is on vacation, I thought it would be nice to update a little sooner as I had planned originally, although I don't have the best feeling, updating this chapter without a beta, but I did my best to correct myself. Please don't think poor of me if it isn't as smoothly to read as you deserve it.

Anyway, I hope you'll have some fun with it. And please review?! It is so much more fun to write when I know if you like what I do, or not.

If you're celebrating, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

XOXO Giuna

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Ere he reached the door, he knew that she was there. Her scent was overwhelming; her blood practically calling for him. Before he knew what happened and before he was able to suppress it, the veins under his eyes darkened and his fangs broke through his gums. Opening the door, Elena collapsed into his arms. She looked awful and somehow engorged. The veins of her legs and arms stood out to her soft skin, the expression on her face dead-like and her eyes closed.

"Elena? What the hell is happening to you?" he asked his self-control nearly used-up.

He accomplished to sit down on the floor and held her in his lap totally torn between sinking his canines straight into her skin and comforting her. He attempted to repress the craving for her blood. The last thing he needed was him puking out his guts!

"Help me, Damon!" she whispered so faintly and weak it shook him to the core. His hands were all over her, soothing her and himself at the same time but that didn't help to fix her. _Shit!_ What was he supposed to do?

All of a sudden her nose started to bleed and that brought him to the edge instantly, his mind refused to build one clear thought. Without hesitation, he forced her neck to his mouth, slid his fangs into her skin and started to suck. Elena jerked just once, and then went very still. Her blood flooded into his mouth at a pace he could barely handle to swallow.

But he did, and it tasted…Mhmm… so delicious. Just like it was tailor-made for him, and only for him. He put his free arm around her limp body to press her even closer to him, but surprisingly he was able to stop drinking much sooner as he had thought he would be. Damon released her neck, pierced his tongue with his fangs and licked over the bite marks for them to heal. He withdrew his head to get a glimpse on Elena, only to find her opening her eyes in this very second.

"Hello, there," was all he could manage to say. Quite shocked to see him, she stared straight into his eyes.

"What happened?" she wanted to know, to fill up the blackness in her mind.

"I think, I happened to save your life!" he smirked at her cockily as the relief that she was fine, finally sunk in.

"Ha!" she wanted to scoff at him, but it failed its intention. In lieu of that she just got lost in his aquamarine blue eyes and became suddenly all too aware of his strong arms around her body. She clenched her jaw, she wasn't used to such intimacy and actually, she didn't want it. Hell, she didn't even know what had happened and why she was here, again. The only two things she could remember were the sickness she had felt and the strange look of herself in the mirror. She made a stab at rising, but didn't accomplish.

"Whoa, take it easy, Elena!" he said but supported her in her attempt anyway.

"What ever you did, Damon, I'm really thankful, but I can't stay. I need to leave!" she said as firmly as possible and tried to escape his grip around her elbow.

"Ah, ah, ah! You are not going to run again. We need to talk and you will stay!" he commanded and hold her even tighter.

Promptly, he could hear her heartbeat accelerating again while he saw panic washing over her face. He shook his head slowly and let go of her. She immediately stepped away from him, not sure what to think about his move. As she turned to the door he frowned angry.

"Aren't you the tiniest bit curious about what this mess is, we got ourselves obviously into?" he wanted to know; making her at least freeze in place.

She turned around stoop-shouldered, not looking at him but onto the floor. Inch by inch she raised her head as if it weight too much for her to carry, until he could see her tear-filled deep brown eyes, which reflected all to clear every single amount of pain she had ever suffered. He swallowed hard but still waited for her to say something. She got it and took a deep breath.

"You know why I want to run, Damon?" she asked, unconsciously, laying all her despair into this question, but didn't expect him to answer anyway.

"Because I can do this no longer! Even more than I can put into words. There is already so much a have to deal with and actually, I have no idea how I'm going to handle it. There is only so much I can take…," she stopped her flood of confessions as tears ran down her soft cheeks, overwhelmed by her emotions. She didn't want to cry in front of him and covered her pale face with her sweaty palms to calm down. Damon watched her extensively and felt so damn bad for her. She looked so lost and he wanted to comfort her but was afraid that she would shrink away from his embrace. _What a fucked up situation!_

"Look, I can only imagine what you have been through, but whatever it is that is going on between the two of us, we are in this together. We will figure something out," he reassured her, trying to make her stay and took a step forward into her direction. When she eventually lowered her hands and let them hung slack on the sides of her body, Damon saw nothing but inner strife in her face. Her lips were firmly pressed together, the corners of her mouth pointed downwards as she frowned as if in horrible pain. She was torn between facing the reality and running away from it. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure, that she couldn't run. The problem was that she hadn't admitted it to herself.

As she stood there silently, the lines of her face started to smoothen again. She turned around to the door. At first Damon thought that she was actually going to leave and was already about to stop her but he was wrong. Elena closed the door shut, holding on to the wooden surface to steady herself once more; breathing heavily in and out she ultimately turned around to work out the oddness that had built up the last 24 hours.

"Ok, let's talk!" she suggested, her voice still soft but no longer full of her desperation. Tentatively, almost shy, she stood right in front of him, waiting for him to do something, anything. Damon breathed out, too.

"I'm really glad you're saying that! Come on over, take a seat?!" he half ordered half requested and smirked at the sound of his own words, grabbed a water carafe from the coffee table and filled one tumbler for her. She shook her head at him and couldn't insist but grinning back at him.

"Politeness isn't exactly one of your strength, is it?" she teased him boldly as she passed him to sit down on the couch, she knew all to well by now. It was kind of confusing, that no matter what had happened in her past with Mason, but also with Damon himself, she nonetheless felt somehow comfortable with him.

"Well, I think you got to know at least one of my strengths, right?" he teased right back but instantly regretted his sexual innuendo as he became aware of Elena's wide eyes; gazing at him from over the rim of the mug as she choked on the water she was sipping. She noisily cleared her throat and turned her head away from him to hide her flushed cheeks with some strands of her long hair.

_Damn him._ So much for feeling comfortable with him.

"Yeah, about that…," she started at a loss for words. "That wasn't me!" she simply insisted.

"Ah…ok?! And with whom did I had the pleasure, if it wasn't you?" he wanted to know. At first pretty amused about her behaviour, he took a seat on the black leather armchair at the opposite side of the coffee table.

She bit her lower lip much embarrassed and turned away from him again. Smugly, he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, letting him know, that she was reliving their first blood exchange vividly at that moment. Then all of a sudden it was bittersweet to witness how desperately she tried to hide that she had actually liked it. Especially the loss of her arousal he would have been able to smell easily, told him that what ever had happened to her, had caused some major damage.

"Fine!" she admitted "It was me, but something was wrong with me! I didn't act like myself. I would've never done something like that!" she pointed out folding her hands in her lap and started to tip her upper leg franticly with her finger. Her gaze avoided his the whole time. Damon cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. "I believe you," he just said.

"You do?" Elena was surprised.

"Yeah, I do. Not only because you behaved absolutely unexpected but especially because of what you wanted me to do!" he declared, not sure about what would come up next with the blood topic finally on the table.

Quickly, she looked at the ground. For her this conversation was pure torture and she would rather stop than discussing anything even more detailed, momentarily terrified about what might be revealed soon. But terrified or not, she needed to face the truth. "You mean, that I asked you to bite me…," she breathed out with pink cheeks.

"Yes, indeed! Why would you asked something like that without knowing…"

_Oh shit!_ He couldn't keep his big mouth shut.

_Damn it!_

"Without knowing what?" she sure as hell wanted to know, but it didn't matter anyway. She needed to know the truth about him, not at least because their situation didn't appeared short-lived at all. So far, he hadn't told a lot of humans what he was but he always went for the quick and easy method.

"Without knowing that I'm a vampire!" he beat her around the head.

"What?" she asked, her mouth popped open while her face turned a few shades whiter. Also she hadn't had any idea what those blurred memories in her head portend, the thought of him being a vampire never had crossed her mind at any point.

"You've got to be kidding me, right?" she asked with dilated pupils, holding on to the last piece of hope that was left.

"No, Elena. I'm telling you the truth. I'm a vampire!"

She immediately froze in her seat. That just couldn't be true. Vampires belonged to the world of imagination and she wanted them to stay the hell right there! She still stared at him in disbelief, shaking her head back and forth, totally unable to cope with what he had revealed to her. Her eyes searched his face franticly for an escape, but his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes didn't help at all.

"So, you are really serious?" she murmured quietly, more to herself than to him. As his words finally sank in, her heart beat accelerated from a more or less normal pace to something so oppressive, she had experienced just once before in her life. The very moment she believed him, a million questions hailed down on her.

_She had told a vampire to bite her! Why the hell had she acted like this? Now that he had drank from her and she also from him, would that implicated any consequences? Was she becoming a vampire now? Oh God! What had he done to her?_

Damon regarded the scene in front of him somewhat sceptically, but let her some time to deal with this new information. He was able to read her every sentiment straight from the expressions of her pretty face, especially from her deep brown eyes and the way her eyebrows furrowed and contracted from time to time. Only when her breathing and heart beat started to remind him of her break down in the alley, he interrupted her.

"Calm down, Elena! From the really bad things a vampire could do to a human, you have already experienced them all. So, there is no need to be afraid of me, ok?" he assured her and scanned her face for another reaction. Elena rubbed her face roughly with her palms, anxious to try to clam down. As strange as it sounded and as much as she wanted this whole crap to be a joke, he was right. After a moment she felt better and laid her hands back into her lap as she searched his eyes finding them instantly.

She dived into the ocean blue windows of his soul, piercing them for giving her the answers to the confusion in her head but he remained silent. Instead, he just stared back straight into _her _soul, or at least it felt like that. Maybe he was as clueless as she was.

_Great!_

"So what now?" she muttered as she blinked, not accomplishing to stand his gaze any longer.

"Now, we need to figure out what is wrong with us. Because since our little encounter over there," he raised an eyebrow and pointed at the door behind him failing to suppress a smirk

"I've got a little problem!" he started to fill her in.

"What problem?" she asked as she rolled her eyes at him, still quite embarrassed about the whole situation.

"It looks like I can't keep any blood down…apart from yours," Damon enlightened her. Elena gasped for air and felt suddenly more than uncomfortable as he gazed at her through narrowed and somehow literally hungry eyes, like she was something to eat. _Freaking hell! She was!_

"Please don't look at me that way!" she demanded, hoping for the lump in her throat to vanish.

"What look?" he wanted to know, not aware of his recent facial expression.

"As if you are going to eat me in the near future!" she clarified as she swallowed hard. Damon started to giggle.

_Giggle!_

"What is so funny about that!" she barked at him, officially annoyed at that point.

"I'm sorry. It is not funny, but actually I just can't help myself. To be honest, the two times I had the pleasure of tasting your blood were the most delicious I have ever had in my not so short lifetime. Your blood simply tastes unique," he tried to explain to Elena, although it seemed to be pretty weird to chit-chat with the prey about its taste. As if he had anticipated her reaction, for a fraction of a second she looked disgusted.

"I can't take that as a compliment. No offence!" she said, and couldn't shake off the illusion that something had escaped her notice.

"Non taken!" he smirked at her and with that it finally clicked in her mind.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by _the two times_?" she asked suspiciously.

"You didn't remember?" he asked astonished, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Obliviously, I don't! Please tell me what happened!"

"Well, when I was about to leave my apartment, you practically threw yourself into my arms," Damon stopped as he saw Elena's indignant expression spread over her face. "Ok, you didn't threw yourself, but you collapsed into my arms. Looking kind of puffy and the veins on your body were so bulging I just haven't had another choice than…you know!" waving an apologetic half-crooked smile at her, waiting for her reaction. Elena didn't say anything at first, frowned and ran her hands through her hair, trying badly to remember.

"I can't remember how I came here…, but I know that I felt horrible that morning. All dizzy, my head hurt like hell and my heart acted up…and…yeah, that I indeed looked puffy. Maybe I'm ill. I should probably go to visit a doctor," she nodded to herself ignoring the uncomfortable feeling, that her problem wasn't an illness.

"Sorry, but I don't think that will solve the problem. You know there are not only vampires in this world but also magic. I might be wrong, but I have a hunch that someone has used a spell on us," he explained seeing her expression jumping the rails. She nodded, smiling insanely, then shook her head, making a sarcastic sound.

"What the fuck, Damon? Magic? Vampires? I don't want that! I don't want any of that!" she screamed at him, unable to cope with that new information.

"I know that! I haven't wanted it for myself either, but sometimes you just don't have a choice, right?" Elena got caught by the soft sound of his voice. He really seemed to know what he was taking about. Somehow that calmed her down again.

"So, what do you think that spell is about?" she wondered and was surprised her voice sounded so calm.

"You'll freak out again. I don't know if I can handle that!," he teased her to relax this messed up situation.

"Try me!" She accomplished to grin slightly.

"Fine! I know for sure, that I can only keep your blood down and from what I have witnessed I guess that you have somehow reproduced the amount of blood I have drained from you, on top of your normal level. I should admit that it was a lot at the first time, so much, that I…well…almost killed you…, but therefore, I gave you my blood to help your body recovering. That's what vampire blood does to a human".

While Damon explained his thoughts, Elena's eyes widened once again and she anxiously tried to breathe calmly.

"You almost killed me? Wow! That is…really encouraging!" She shook her head almost unnoticeable.

"If I get you right, you think that I felt so miserable because there was too much blood in my system, maybe the amount you have taken from me. So, tell me Damon, what would have happened, if you hadn't drank from me again?" she asked not able to hide her frustration.

"I think you already know that, don't you?" he challenged her and pierced her with his blue eyes.

"I would have… died?, she demanded and didn't managed to swallow around the lump in her throat as a shudder drove through her whole body.

"I think so. I'm sorry, Elena!" he honestly replied.

She again covered her face with her palms.

"Damon, do vampires have bathrooms? I could use a moment to myself, please?" she murmured through her hands.

"Sure! It's right over there!" He waited for her to look up and pointed to one of the two doors on the left wall next to the entrance. Slowly, Elena rose to her feet, avoided to glimpse at him and headed to the bathroom, hoping for at least a couple of minutes to herself.

Entering the room and locking the door quickly, she leaned her back against the wooden surface to chute to the tiles. She tucked up her legs as close to her body as possible, wrapped her arms around them and rested her forehead against her knees. Immediately, she started to cry. Why did that happen to her? After all the shit she had been through with Mason, she just wanted to be left alone! And now she was somehow magically linked to a vampire, doomed to die if they didn't stick together.

_Argh, that was not fair!_

She didn't want this and he for sure didn't want this either. They were totally at the mercy of each other. If one of them decided to give up, the other would die.

_Oh fuck!_

She sobbed as she stood up to walk over to the sink and splashed some water into her tear-strained face. It felt good, but not good enough to already leave the bathroom again. Elena watched her face in the mirror. She looked as awful as she felt inside. Her eyes were sad and tired. She couldn't remember when she had seen her face smiling back at her for the last time.

She sighed, and felt suddenly bugged by herself. For God's sake, she needed to stop the self-pity party! Yes, her past had been horrible and sure as hell her future didn't look much better. Only she needed to think straight and therefore, she needed to push her desperation to the back of her mind. If he was indeed right and a witch had cast a spell on them than maybe she could undo it again!

For over a minute, she consciously breathed in and out deeply until she felt better. She squared her shoulders and was ready to re-enter the living room as she heard Damon's Cell phone ringing. She stood perfectly still and remained quietly to prepare herself to eavesdrop.

"Hey, Stefan, please tell me you've got news for me," Damon pleaded into the phone.

_…_

_Hm, who was Stefan?_

„Actually she found me. And she was in a damn bad condition".

…

_He sounded really concerned. _

„Yeah I could and she felt better afterwards".

_…_

_After he had drunk? _

"Um, well I'm glad she felt better! I'm pretty sure she would have died otherwise! We have talked and from what she was telling and I had experienced I'm sure it must be some stupid kind of magic that linked us together. Although I have no idea, which bitchy witch I have pissed of that much to deserve a spell like that!"

…

„Do I want to know what could possibly be worst than magic?"

_There could be something worst? Please no!_

_…_

„Then spill it, Stefan!"

_…_

_Oh, he sounded a little pissed…_

„What kind of gene?"

_…_

_A Gene? What the hell?_

„What a creepy fuck is that?"

_…_

_Shit! Now, he was really upset. _

„That is a weird comparison! Why did something like that exists anyway?"

_…_

_Damn it! What was a weird comparison?_

„I get that, but how comes that we have never heard about something like that before?"

_…_

_What the hell were they talking about? Argh!_

„Oh! You mean that it is possible that another vampire could steal her from me?"

_…_

_Hello? What was wrong with those men?_

„In that case I would die, am I wrong?"

_…_

_We had figured that, didn't we?_

„Wait…what does that all mean to my eternal existence, if she is still human? Am I going to die when she dies of old age?"

_…_

_Aww, poor little vampire!_

"Wow, that is convenient for me, but…"

_…_

_Shit!_

„I understand. Now I need to talk to her. We will stay in contact, ok? Thank you so much for finding out about all this".

…

„Bye"

„Elena? You can come in now! I know you eavesdropped!"

_Oops!_


	4. Chapter 4

Hi you all!

I'm one lucky girl :)

Certainly because of your kind reviews, favs and follows, but also because shoppe69 is helping me with this story. And be assured she is doing it really great! Convince yourself!

With a very good feeling in my heart, I release this chapter to you and hope you're going to like it. As always… if you do, or even if you don't, please let me know and review :)

xo Giuna

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Elena re-entered the living room, feeling a little embarrassed… but only a little. She had the right to know what was up, but she tried to avoid his gaze anyway as she sat down on the couch again.

"You're confused!" he determined, shocking her with the concern in his voice.

"I am. And I want you to tell me what you've learned!" She tried to sound self-conscious and even raised her eyes to him, but she was sure that he saw through her.

He furrowed one eyebrow at her and cocked his head to the side.

"You're quite demanding. But I get it."

Elena wanted to withstand his gaze, but after a moment she couldn't handle his piercing eyes any longer. She sighed.

"Please, Damon? Tell me what you found out." Anxious to hide her fear of what he was going to reveal to her, she shuddered slightly. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what he would tell her.

"Well, that was my younger brother, Stefan. He is a vampire, too, and he knows one of the eldest and strongest vampires in the world. His name is Elijah. Elijah told my brother that you are a special kind of human, due to a gene that you've inherited." Damon stopped at that point, giving Elena the chance to let the news sink in. She looked dumbfounded.

"This is all my fault?" she demanded and from the look on her face she felt guilty.

"I am not going to blame you if that's what you worry about. I'm sure you haven't called for it," he said softly.

"No, I haven't… And now what? What does that gene do?" she wanted to know, sensing a giant lump in her stomach, fearing that it would never go away again.

"Yeah, about that…err…it's something you're not going to like, I guess." Damon grimaced, not sure which words to use.

"Actually, I don't like any of the things we found out, so I think its save to say that the next revelation will just perfectly fit in. So please, tell me what your brother reported," she pushed him bravely, but her heartbeat picked up anyway.

"Um, well, he figured out that the blood exchange we practiced has triggered your gene. And by that, I unknowingly marked you as…my…oh Lord, I hate that word!" He clenched his jaw and breathed noisily.

"What Damon?" The concern in Elena's voice made him focus again.

"My blood-slave!" he blurted, not able to meet her gaze.

"WHAT?"

"I know that sounds creepy, but actually it's only a description of what we already found out, right? However, the worst part is that there is more to it," he admitted, running his hand through his pitch-black hair.

"Damon, spill it. And not in small packages, that makes it just worse. Give me the whole story!" she commanded, but her body language betrayed her. She curled up into a ball on the couch as if expecting another disastrous detail."

"Okay. You know already, that your body is going to reproduce the exact amount of blood I take from you, on top of what your normal level is. My brother confirmed that if I wouldn't have fed from you again, you would've drowned in your own blood, or to be precise, in the amount that was meant for me. And since I'm not able to feed on anyone apart from you, I would dessicate and spend an eternity mummified. Not exactly a scenario I'm into." He remained quiet for a moment, watching Elena, willing her to look at him as his next words formed in his mouth. When she finally raised her head and allowed him a glimpse on her blank expression, he continued.

"Speaking of eternity, there is something that might affect you even more than being my… you know…," He exhaled, collecting the right words. "Now that your gene is activated and we are linked you're not going to grow any older…," he spoke softly, knowing that his words were hard to comprehend.

"Wait…you mean…I'm not going to die of old age?" she asked and her jaw dropped open. She was on the brink of cracking up at those game-changing news.

Damon just shook his head, trying to read her emotions but failed when she still looked petrified.

"That means, I'm doomed to spend the rest of eternity with you? Willingly or unwillingly as I assume? I would rather die than being your hostage for the rest of all time!" Elena jumped to her feet running towards the door, but Damon was already there, piercing her with his blue eyes. Elena shrieked frightened as she crashed into him and backed away immediately.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…," he warned her, wagging a finger at her.

"Can't let you do that!"

"How could you be so fast? Is that another of your creepy vampire features?" she guessed with a fast pounding pulse.

Damon just nodded with a wide smile spreading over his face.

"Fabulous! Anything else concerning that business you want to share with me?"

"Nope! That would totally take the surprise away, don't you think?" he smirked with a dangerous light flickering in his eyes.

_Argh!_ Elena turned away from Damon, searching to find a possibility to persuade him to let her go. But there was none! Suddenly the realisation of her future hit her hard, causing a rush of adrenaline accompanied by panic through her body, letting the ends of her nerves ache.

She swirled around to face Damon again, darted malignant glances at him, which perfectly mirrored the feelings inside of her. She was furious, that couldn't happen to her again. She wouldn't let him! For Gods sake, she had been free for less than 4 days! She headed in his direction, knowing that she might just have this one chance. She drew herself up to her full height and narrowed her eyes as she intruded his personal space, ignoring the warning bells ringing in her head.

"I am not going to stay! I had that for two years and I know what it's like. I can't do that for an eternity!" she shouted at him. She couldn't help herself but started to punch against his chest over and over again.

Damon was absolutely unimpressed of her strength, she simply had none, but he was impressed she would so voluntarily give up her life without even giving them a shot to figure something out.

_What the hell had happened to her during those two years?_

"Are you done?" he asked plain. Elena shot him a contemptuous look.

"Surprise! You know, Elena, vampires are not even fast but happen to be pretty strong, too. So stop fighting like a little girl. I. am. not. letting. you. go. Get it?"

"You're such an ass!" she hissed at him through clenched teeth, raised her hand, slapped his cheek hard and breathed heavily against his face, the rage written all over her face. Damon was thunderstruck, he hadn't seen it coming and stared at her in surprise as he rubbed over the red spot. It didn't hurt much, but the gesture had hit him. He felt himself growing angry inside.

"You better be nice. I can make that an eternity full of pain for you!" he threatened her. He didn't really mean it, but he just wasn't the even-tempered kind of guy.

"Do what you want! That doesn't scare me. I know many types of pain, so I can handle whatever you got on your mind! But be assured of one thing: It's my blood that you need and I am not going to give it to you willingly!" She looked daggers at him as she finished the sentence, then turned around once more, ran into the bathroom, slammed the door shut behind her and locked it carefully.

_Oh God!_ What had she just done? She knew that her words were meaningless to him. He was stronger and faster than her and God knows what else to add to that list. At least she knew for sure now that the gene had been responsible for her kissing him and letting him do those…things to her.

As she chewed it over and over in her head, she understood something else; when she had shaken his hand in the bar and felt that electricity running through her body, it hadn't just been a warning to her but also her chance to choose whether to stay or to leave. In a way he wouldn't have noticed, of course, but that would have required knowing about said gene, which she hadn't.

And later, when he had kissed her, that choice was gone and the gene had taken over, all too willing to fulfil its purpose.

And now…she was screwed. She wouldn't be able to stop him from feeding from her. She was going to be defenseless when he was coming for her. And he would. He would in the very near future. And it was going to be horrible. Elena sighed and sank down to the tiles in despair; waiting for the relentless fate that lay in wait for her, unknowing how to face it.

_Wow!_ That just worked out the way he planned it! Damon shook his head sarcastically and grabbed the bourbon from the coffee table, unscrewed it and took a couple of big gulps straight from the bottle. That was the thing he hadn't wanted for either of them.

This situation was messed up, yes, but if they would stick together, they could find a way to make it work. For him, with more than 160 years of life experience that was crystal-clear, but for her…well, that was another story. The problem was her past. He was pretty sure that her ex-boyfriend Mason had forced himself on her or maybe worse. From what she had told him in her anger, it seemed that he had held her hostage for the last couple of years and if that was really true, then it would take a long time until she would trust him, if ever. If he would just assault her and feed on her without her permission, it would make the whole blood-slave thing even worse. But then, if he wouldn't, they would both die…more or less. Damon tore at his hair. His threat hadn't helped to smooth down their fighting at all.

_Fuck!_ But she hadn't been on her best behaviour as well. In a couple of hours he was going to feed on her again, maybe until then, she would have cooled down as well.

In the meantime Damon tried to figure out how to deal with the new path his life had just taken. He needed to feed at least once a day, and even if he would allow Elena to meet him only for that, the problem his brother had revealed to him would remain the same. She wasn't necessarily just his for eternity, another vampire could easily catch her and with a simple witch spell Elena would become the other's blood-slave.

According to Stefan, there were many vampires out there, watching out for those rare humans like Elena, finding it convenient to possess their own blood source that never runs dry and that would allow them to stay hidden so easily, because the need to hunt or to steal blood bags would vanish. Not to speak of the incredibly awesome taste that watered Damon's mouth the second he thought about it.

He couldn't let anybody take her away from him. She was his. And he would fight for her and his life to remain that way. Whether she liked it or not, she needed to stay at his place. End of story.

Elena opened her eyes, wondering if she had slept for long. Judging from the endless intricacy of her dreams, it must have been a pretty long time. She couldn't decipher the pictures anymore, the only thing left of her slumber was a badly oppressive feeling that totally consumed her. Still not fully awake, she jumped when she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Elena, it's time, open up!" She heard Damon's demanding voice and instantly felt sick.

"Go away!" she shouted rudely at him. It wasn't about time yet, was it? She didn't even feel the tiniest bit dizzy.

"Huh, you know that I'm not going to let you die, right? Therefore I'm not waiting for the very last second to feed on you. And I'm pretty sure that you are smart enough to know, that this fucking door can't stop me from coming inside!" he shouted back at her, unaware of answering her unspoken question.

"Do what you want to that silly door, I'm not going to open it up to grant you better access to my blood!" she grumbled, not sure if it was wise to challenge him. But she couldn't help it anyway, because somehow it didn't matter to her. She meant what she had told him before. She would rather die than live with him as his personal blood-slave hostage like…forever. At least she wasn't going to make it easy for him to keep her from drowning in her own blood.

_Oh God._ She sounded like a total psycho…what was wrong with her? It wasn't his fault, it was hers. She was the one with that stupid gene! Wherever in hell it had come from after all!

"Elena, do you really want me to ruin that door? I swear, I'm not going to replace it and since I've decided for you to stay, this might cause some embarrassing inconveniences!" he barked against the closed door.

"You decided for me to stay? Great! So by now I'm officially under disability, right? Suddenly, I feel so much better, Damon! Thank you!" she fired off with crimson red cheeks burning in her face.

"Honestly, Elena? What did you expect me to do since I'm not the one with a death wish!" he told her, staying kind of rational, but wasn't able to suppress the undertone in his voice completely. At least she remained quiet…

"So would you please open now?" he demanded politely, hoping she would give in and he could avoid forcing her.

"Go to hell, Damon!" she hissed at him stubbornly, curling herself into a ball, well knowing that she had exhausted his patience.

"Argh! Remember you asked for it!" he grumbled dangerously.

For a moment, there was silence, but then a sound like a thunder filled the bathroom as Damon slashed his way through the door. Elena screamed helplessly and squatted in the corner of the room as far away from the door as possible. Her eyes widened in panic and her heartbeat picked up dramatically when she saw Damon standing in the middle of the doorframe. His hair was a total mess, his blue eyes narrowed into slots and his nostrils flared in anger as he breathed heavily, seeking for her.

She stared at him for a fraction of a second before pure fear crept up her spine and she hid her face between her knees, which were hugged to her chest.

_Oh God please don't!_

Although this was a whole different situation, she couldn't stop the awful memories of the time with Mason washing over her, which had her seeing red.

When Damon saw her like that and sensed her fear, his anger vanished instantly. He had a clue what she was thinking about right now and he knew for sure that he couldn't go through with the plan which had popped up in his mind while tore the door into shreds.

In his thoughts he had grabbed her, forced her to her feet and slammed her against the cold shower wall, telling her what he was able to do to her if she wouldn't obey before he had turned his face into his vampire mask right in front of her terrified eyes, crashing his sharp teeth merciless into the delicate skin of her neck, enjoying each of her screams.

Well, then again, he wasn't just the even-tempered type of a guy. Nonetheless, he wasn't heartless or at least he wasn't when it came to her; the girl right in front of him, who tried to hide herself so desperately but not from him, not really.

Damon moved slowly toward her and squatted next to her, stroking her shuddering arm gently.

"Don't touch me!" she cried fearfully and writhed with disgust.

"Elena, please stand up, let's go back to the living room, okay?" he suggested softly, but tugged at her arm to pull her up into a standing position. Her reaction to his move caught him off guard. Elena started to scream, to fight against him and she threw her fists against his arm with all her might.

"I said, let go of me! You will not touch me ever again! You can go fuck yourself, Mason!" she screamed at Damon, completely losing contact with reality.

Damon watched her in shock, he had never seen something like that before and that meant a lot, because he had seen pretty much everything.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't compel her anymore, which was one of the other things Stefan had told him. But what should he do instead? Totally unable to cope with her emotional outburst, he could only imagine of one thing to do even if it might not be the best. He went on and pulled her up on her feet.

"No! Please don't! I can't do that again, please!" she begged in desperation, still not recognizing that the man next to her wasn't Mason. Damon ignored the way her hands hit his face, leaving some deep bloody scratches on it as she fought against him like her life was at stake. Thanks to his vampire strength he accomplished to turn her around to face him and crashed her body into his chest. With his inhuman speed, he pinned her arms to the side of her body and fixated them with his strong ones he wrapped around her small body at the same time. Elena couldn't move anymore and the panic within her grew to an unbearable level.

"Elena. It's me, Damon!" he nearly screamed at her because her own screams where so loud, she might not be able to hear him at all.

"Please Elena…Stop screaming. Everything is fine. I'm not going to hurt you, please…calm down!" He attempted to sooth her with his tender words, and rested his forehead against her head.

He stood there for a long while until Elena finally stopped fighting him, her screams slowly changed into sobs and she helplessly buried her face into his chest. He could hear her heartbeat steady and finally her breathing went back to normal again.

"Hey there," he whispered against her head, inhaling her intoxicating scent fully one more time before he pulled his head away from hers to look her in the eye.

"Do you feel better?" he asked carefully, afraid of using the wrong words on her. Her tear strained face was pale except from a few red spots where his chest had left imprints on it. Her deep brown eyes still sparkled full of tears, but there was something else he noticed. An emotion Damon hadn't seen in them before and wasn't able to name yet.

"I don't know what to say Damon," Elena said in a quiet voice, embarrassed that she had totally lost her mind.

"You don't have to say anything at all if you don't want to," he assured her and removed his arms inch by inch. She smiled at him slightly, not sure if she should move or not.

Damon saw her hesitation and took the decision away from her. "I think we should go back to the living room, okay?"

Elena just nodded and moved slowly back into the other room, but stopped before she reached the couch. "Actually, Damon, I would like to sleep for a while, I'm so tired," she told him honestly.

"Okay. Whatever you need," he answered in understanding. "I guess we have got another hour until …," he added, ruining the short moment of the secure feeling Elena had sensed a few seconds ago, when she had finally realized that Damon had held her tight and not Mason.

Elena nodded in resignation; she just wanted to sleep; hoping that she would find the badly needed peace in her dreams. Damon leaded her to his bedroom, a contrast to the rest of the apartment. It was a big chamber that contained only a giant wooden bed, two antique looking arm chairs and a compatible wardrobe.

"Do you want to change into something more comfortable?" Damon asked her, realizing that she still wore the same clothes like the day before.

"Umm…I don't know…I," she stammered confused. She wanted to get rid of those clothes more than anything, but what should she wear instead?

Damon narrowed his eyes, sensing her problem.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I will find a shirt and some pants for you," he encouraged her. She nodded at him; observing him as he searched his wardrobe for some clothes. He was nothing like Mason, she suddenly realized. Damon could also be quite intimidating, but there was nothing devious or unrelenting in his behaviour. He just had accomplished to bring her back from her Mason-trip, which meant a lot to her. She hadn't felt that safe for a very long time and it was this feeling that made her reconsider her previous thoughts. Maybe it was better to figure out something than to die.

Damon turned around; he had found something for her to wear.

"Here you…go," he halted as he saw the unfamiliar soft expression on her face. He decided to brush it aside; whatever it was that had evoked that sweet expression on her normally petrified face, he didn't want to ruin it.

"I haven't found some small-sized stuff, so my clothes have to work until we get your things." Damon held a black shirt and one of his boxer-briefs out to her.

"There is nothing to get," she whispered, looking down to the floor. "Actually, there was no time to pack anything when I ran away from Mason, you know?!"

_Damn, he was so stupid_. Of course she hadn't had time, that's what escaping is about, right? To hurry. _Urg!_

"Then we'll go shopping, tomorrow!" he attempted to make it up to her.

"You serious?" Elena couldn't quite believe him.

"Of course!" he nodded firmly, happy to find that soft expression on her face again.

"Thank you," she slightly smiled at him, unaccustomed to the feeling of actually looking forward to something.

"You're welcome."

"Not just for this, Damon. I…umm…I know that you could have defeated and fed from me without any effort… So thank you that you didn't. It means a lot to me!" she revealed to him and met his gaze as she smiled through her newly upcoming tears.

"Anytime!" he simply responded, glad that he had been acting right earlier. But it was not just this, he was really touched by her words and the way she looked at him.

"Well, I should leave you alone now…so you can change clothes," he suggested and went to the door. Even before she started her sentence her heartbeat gave her away.

"Wait, Damon," she exhaled, swallowing hard.

"Yes?" He turned around once more.

"I want you to feed on me," she blurted out.

"Err, what?" he replied dumbfounded.

"I'm so tired of fighting, Damon. I just want a little peace," she admitted quietly. When Damon saw the pleading in her eyes, he didn't hesitate for a second and went back to her.

"I understand that. And I'm truly relieved that you're offering. Look, Elena, I know it must be hard for you to find yourself in a situation that is comparable to your past, but I don't want you to feel that way around me, okay? I swear, I'm not going to hurt you or force you to do anything you don't want to. I know, we don't know each other, but as twisted as this situation might be, I'm sure together we can make the best of it!" he said euphorically, relieved that he had been able to tell her what he had wanted to tell her hours ago.

"Are you serious?" She needed to be sure before she could allow the warmth that had started to fill her stomach to spread through her whole body.

"I do. I really do!" he did her the favour and observed how her facial expression shifted once more. The worry lines between her eyes vanished and she relaxed her jawbone which gave her face an even softer touch. But the major change he noticed was in her eyes which lightened up and instantly enlarged to their regular size. _God, she really had beautiful brown doe eyes!_


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

Happy New Year to all of you!

I'm back with the next chapter and would like to thank shoppe69 for her huge help on it. She is an incredible writer, so check out her stories too.

Additionally, I send a special thanks to those of you who took the time to review. It's always great to read what you think about my storyline and I really appreciate it a lot, just as the favs and follows, so please keep it up?!

I hope you're going to like this chapter. Have fun.

xoxo Giuna

* * *

**Chapter 5**

"You're hungry, aren't you?" She jolted him out of his daydream.

"Huh?" escaped his lips, not quite sure what it was, she exactly wanted to tell him with this statement.

"In some way I can sense it," she whispered and concentrated to catch hold of it. "It is a strange feeling…, it tells me that there is still some time left, yet it feels stronger than any of my own emotions," she explained her new discovery.

"Um, well, I guess that might be the reason why you came to me unintentionally earlier. There is a pull which leads you to me just in case we get separated from each other for too long…," Damon suggested and shrugged his shoulders.

"I think you're right, it definitely feels this way," she supported his thought and suppressed her own conclusion, that this circumstance trapped her even more, to slip her mouth. She had no chance to simply ignore this strong, domineering sentiment at all. She was more than just relieved that she had heard Damon's kind words before, otherwise she would have felt like a slave not only to him, but also to herself."

"Well, I guess it's safe to say than that it wasn't necessary to ruin the door," he joked, trying to bring her out of the dark thoughts he could see running through her mind again. Elena met his gaze and grinned slightly back at him, her face relaxed again. She sighed and sat down on the huge and very comfortable bed.

"How are you going to do it?" she asked shyly, staring up at his smirking face as her pupils dilated and she blushed deep red, realizing that he had misunderstood her.

"Err, I don't mean… how… I mean… I don't know…where?!" Elena squinted and slightly shook her head.

_God_…she wished the ground would open up and swallow her. When she opened her eyes again, Damon gave her a wide smile.

"You're really sweet when you're embarrassed, but don't be. And to answer your question… No. You know what? I would rather show you," he said and climbed onto the bed to kneel right behind her, pulling her into the resulting V of his legs. Elena gasped at the sudden proximity to his body and stiffened instantly while she hunched her shoulders.

"Relax, Elena!" Damon whispered into her ear, stroking her shoulders and all the way down to her fingertips; pulling her back against his chest. At his first touch she wanted to jump off of the bed instantly, only that would have been pointless. Instead, she clenched her teeth and closed her eyes until she could stand the feeling of his palms against her bare skin. Her body remembered his touch, she couldn't deny it, but she wasn't able to give in to him yet. Damon felt her inner resistance all too well and wasn't quite sure what to do about it, not wanting to ruin the tiny progress they had made a few minutes ago.

When her heartbeat began to pick up, just at the same time as his hunger grew larger, he knew for sure what he was going to do. He, for once, would be patient and wait until she would tell him that he needed to bite her. Damon continued to pet her arms calmly, maybe she would get used to his touch at some point.

After a while she relaxed indeed, but just to get restless against his chest.

_It was time, what was he waiting for?_ She needed to inhale deeply to fill her lungs with the air they craved so badly, but that was nothing compared to the nearly painful need to get bitten, which cut its way to the surface from deep down her belly. The feeling brought her close to madness."

_He was so close, why the hell didn't he do it?_ She wiggled even more to resist giving in to the urge, but she couldn't bear it any longer.

"Damon?" she exhaled sharply, almost losing it.

"Yes, Elena?" he just asked, but she had no willpower left to answer him what she needed him to do so much. She was running out of time! Elena turned around lightning-fast, flipping her long hair over her shoulder and landed on top of Damon's legs, straddling him, her exposed neck with her hammering pulse point directly in front of his mouth. Okay, he definitely couldn't get a clearer signal.

"Damon, now!" she whined in a high-pitched voice, full of desperation. Before she had to ask twice Damon licked over her vibrating pulse, released the full length of his teeth and broke through the soft skin which separated him from the one liquid he craved the most. Just as he started sucking up what was made for him, Elena pressed her body further against him, clutched his hair with her hands and moaned softly straight into his ear.

Those sounds were the most beautiful he had ever heard and fueled the desire for her even more. He couldn't resist and encircled her body with his arms, feeling as much of her in every possible way.

The second Damon started to feed on her, Elena was wrapped up in the satisfaction of him taking what was his which spread along every single nerve in her body. It didn't hurt; it just felt good and right and overpowered her in all respects. She felt needed and was all too willing to give him everything she had without expecting anything in return. All her dark thoughts and memories suddenly vanished from her haunted mind, were no longer part of her, and got replaced by the wonderful emotion of belonging to Damon. She felt a warmness swirling around and inside her heart which led her to finally give in and to accept her new place in life. It wasn't as horrible as she had thought it would be, no, actually, she had never been closer to genuine happiness.

She couldn't get enough of that feeling and of…him. With desperate need she wrapped her legs around his back and crossed them over tightly as she moaned into his ear once more, hoping he would never stop again.

Through the sensation of having a part of her inside of him, he noticed the way she pressed herself against him, holding on to him and letting him know that she was his now, willingly. It was beastly hard to stop just at that moment, but it was time. For now, he didn't need any more of her so delightful and intoxicating crimson juice.

Inch by inch he retracted his canines from her neck and ever so slowly he pulled his head back to search her eyes; his hands still caressing her back, not wanting to destroy what had built up between the two of them.

When their eyes locked, Damon was dazed to find hers sparkling right down into his. She didn't try to hide the passion which radiated from her every fibre; making her breathing lustfully and her heart skipping a beat. Still high from their shared experience, her eyes swayed between his cerulean ones and his full lips as she caressed the back of his neck, tickling the soft skin every now and then. Damon groaned as her firm grip caused him thrills of joy, and even tighter pants right under her centre.

She felt his hardness instantly and her mind fell back into its place. She blinked a couple of times while all the warming emotions slipped away from her; making room for the darkness to come back.

Hectically she drew her face away from his and climbed off of his lap to sit down on the other side of the bed, gazing at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry Damon; I shouldn't have let things get so far. I don't know what came over me," she excused herself, but felt lost without him near her anyway. Unfortunately, she was still herself; not able to simply forget about the past.

"If there is someone who needs to apologize its me!" he admitted. "The whole situation caught me off guard… I… just couldn't suppress it."

Elena nodded, biting her lower lip while she stared down onto the white silken sheds when all of a sudden a red dot appeared on it. She frowned in surprise but her hands found their way up to her throat nonetheless. Touching the sensitive skin with her fingertips, she felt the wet spot and drew her hand away, watching it in wonder.

"I'm still bleeding," she informed him unnecessarily, because he had already noticed it.

"Let me see," he said, crawled over to her and positioned himself in front of her lap to get a better glimpse on her bleeding neck. Carefully, he turned her chin to one side and saw her blood trickling out of his fresh bite marks pretty fast.

"Uh, that's weird! It should have stopped on its own by now …," he wondered, gazing mesmerized at the runlet, completely under its spell.

"Now what?" Elena asked frantic, not able to see the way he was gravitated towards her.

"Now, I'm going to heal you," he whispered into her ear, not able to suppress the attraction he felt at the view right under his nose, not to mention the domineering unique scent that filled his nostrils, forcing him to keep going no matter what. There was no self-control left inside of him, he simply acted on the indomitable call of her blood, seducing him to come closer and closer.

Damon inhaled sharply as he felt his fangs breaking unintentionally further through his gums. Giving in to the otherworldly sensation, he opened his mouth to release his tongue in a swift motion and licked her throat clean. Finishing what he should've done right after he had fed on her, he sliced his tongue with his fangs and brought his blood over the marks on her soft skin. The two punctures were healing instantly and Elena's demanding blood finally let go of Damon.

"Damn it, Elena, what was that about?" Damon asked, trying to collect himself, but it wasn't quite successful. He ran his hand through his pitch-black hair as he sat down in front of her with knees drawn to his chest and rested his arms on them, letting his head hang down to relax.

Elena couldn't answer yet and avoided to look at him. Her heartbeat was still racing in her chest, actually she could feel the beat in each part of her body; every inch was pulsating. She didn't know what Damon had experienced the last few moments but for her it was like her whole body had been on fire, sending all its available attraction out to him to receive what it craved and that was him stopping the bleeding.

Damon raised just his head. Regaining his heightened senses, he could hear her still accelerated heartbeat and from the look on her face he knew that something had happened to her too. Her cheeks were flushed deep pink, her pupils were dilated, her lips slightly parted and there was something else, something he thought he would never see on her face again. There was desire. Elena somehow devoured him with her eyes.

Well, she probably liked whatever she had felt.

If it hadn't been for her past with that bastard Mason, he would've gladly accepted her invitation. For God's sake, he had shown her what it was like to be with him, but if he took advantage of her current emotional state, he would ruin everything.

"Are you okay?"was all he managed to direct to her, without being tempted to throw his compassion over board and to take here and now.

Elena blinked twice and Damon saw her effort to gather herself; for her it seemed to be as hard as it was for him. She ran her hands through her long chocolate strands and jumped off of the bed to escape his alluring proximity. Pacing up and down the bedside, her emotions were on a rollercoaster. Her body's siren call for him hadn't left her untouched at all. At that moment she had wanted him, maybe still did, but she couldn't allow herself to give in to those strange feelings she never had before in her life in the presence of a man, except of one… Damon, during their first encounter. But those sentiments couldn't be real, could they? It was all because of that shit gene of hers which drove her totally crazy.

_Argh!_ She stopped and tore at her hair, tousling it wildly around her head.

"I'm not sure…," she finally answered honestly and shot him a short glimpse, embarrassed by herself.

"You know, it's a little hard to behave properly around you when you're sending those ambiguous signals… and please, don't understand that as an accusation… it's not… it's just that I'm not used to being considerate towards anyone. So if I'm doing anything wrong, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?" he suggested, well knowing that those words might be difficult for her to deal with, but she needed to hear them anyway. Just to be on the safe side.

"Oh my God, this is so embarrassing!" she whined as the flush on her cheeks expanded to her ears "I hoped you didn't notice," she admitted shyly.

Damon chuckled "First of all, I'm a vampire, Elena. I can sense pretty much every emotion you go through. I can hear every single change of your heartbeat and I can smell all the reactions of your body caused by those emotions. Second of all, I've been around for over 160 years now. I would say I'm quite experienced, so it is damn hard to hide something from me. And last but not least, I don't want you to hide from me. If this… thing between us shall work, we need to learn to trust each other…even it is going to be difficult."

She choked and started to snort with laughter. "Damn! You are freaking old!" she blurted, half shocked, half amused. His eyebrows raised in vampire speed before he pouted, "Wow, from all the really important things I tried to tell you, my age is what stands out? Ouch!"

As Elena saw his pouty lips, she couldn't prevent herself of having a laughing fit. Giggling non-stop she could sense all the confusion falling off her, all the bottled-up emotions found their way out, leaving her freed and more light-hearted. She couldn't see it because she was bending over her knees, holding her stomach while she still laughed, but Damon was smiling brightly while he watched her letting it all out in her own special way. She wasn't all lost and hurt; in this moment he realized that she could still be saved from all the darkness buried deep inside of her. And that was exactly what he was going to do!

Elena woke up with the first rays of dawn softly warming her cheeks. Needing a moment to collect herself, she remembered where she was and why. Not quite ready to face her destiny yet, she remained in the comfort that was Damon's bed and cuddled into the velvet cushions she had rested on last night.

After she had calmed down from her fit of laughter, Damon had wished her a good night and promised that there would be plenty of time to pick up their conversation again before he had granted her some badly needed privacy.

Drifting slowly into sleep, she had realized something. Whatever would happen in the future, she knew that Damon was going to protect her, even if it was just to keep himself alive. And from what he had told her, he wasn't interested in treating her like a certain other man of whom she was so terrified." How twisted all of this was, but she finally was able to relax. She had found the place where she was safe, even if she had expected something utterly different.

When she had allowed herself to be taken away to the world of her dreams, for the first time in years, she hadn't been afraid anymore.

Reminding herself of the conclusion she had came to and the way it had made her feel - protected and safe - she jumped out of the gigantic bed to stroll through Damon's bedroom. Elena still wore his shirt and boxer-briefs and grabbed the fabric, tightening it around her slender form. Breathing in deeply, she moaned a little.

_Mhmm,_ she liked this smell. Even though the clothes were laundered still a bit of his scent lingered in them. Shutting her eyes dreamily, she abruptly wondered whether she was feeling like this out of free will, or if it was her special gene which guided her… Although he wasn't in the same room, she could still feel the unworldly strong pull to him and what scared her most was that it seemed to have grown even stronger since the last time he had fed on her. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling and definitely one she couldn't ignore. It had her thinking that the blood-slave was meant to fall for the vampire, thus making this inevitable arrangement bearable. She couldn't deny that she felt attracted to him and if she was honest with herself, she had really enjoyed him taking blood from her. However, she wasn't sure how to handle those emotions with all the horrible memories crashing down on her at the slightest reminder. Unfortunately, there were plenty of them.

_Damn it_, she hated Mason for real! Even though she wasn't with him anymore, he still caused her so much pain.

Trying to push him into the farthest corner of her mind, she walked over to the door.

Damon had slept on the couch that night; she hadn't even had to ask him, he had known it would have been wrong to impose his company on her.

He woke up from hearing Elena walking through his bedroom and wondered what she was thinking about. For him, the way the evening had ended had been much better than he had expected. He could literally feel the tension between them, and he was quite sure that she could feel it too. It wouldn't be easy for him to stay away from her, because even though she was not in the same room, he could hear her blood calling for him in a seductive way. Not loud, not yet, but still. At least she could let go and relax while he was feeding on her. A thin end of the wedge…

Damon was relieved about the small progress they had made, but he needed to be sure about it, he needed to know where they stood for sure. When Elena entered the living room, he pretended to be fast asleep. Would she stay or would she run away? Damon asked himself silently while he waited tensely for her decision. He could hear her steady heartbeat that suddenly skipped a beat when her footsteps joined to the sound of her heart. She didn't even hesitate… He noticed that she came closer to the couch, probably to check if he was still asleep. When she was closer to him he could paradoxically handle the call of her blood much better than before. Actually he felt… joy… and…serenity. _Huh?_

Slightly confused, Damon heard her turning away from him and tip toeing into the direction she had come from, but she entered the bathroom instead. He suppressed a chuckle when he imagined her dumbfounded expression in his mind the moment she examined the shreds of the bathroom door

"Oh, fuck!" she cursed faintly as Damon's words popped up in her head "Remember you asked for it!" _Argh!_

Damon bit his lower lip until he tasted blood. Internally he was laughing like crazy while Elena's pulse picked up with rage. She shoved the wooden pieces to one side and walked through the midsized room to search for a brush, but just found a comb. She combed her long hair hastily; she wanted to shower before Damon would wake up. When she was finished, she pulled his shirt over her head and got rid of the boxer-briefs as fast as she could, leaving her completely naked. She slipped into the sandy tiled shower stall and closed the glass door behind her. Of course it had to be a glass door. _Yay!_

From where she stood, she couldn't see the couch on which Damon slept and just hoped the sound of the shower wouldn't disturb his sleep. She turned on the spray and after a few seconds she managed to relax nonetheless. The hot water felt heavenly on her skin and she tilted her head back, letting it run over her throat and breasts, enjoying this peaceful moment. After a few minutes she grabbed the shampoo bottle from the shower caddy. It smelled intensely like him. For the second time this morning a soft moan escaped her parted lips as a shiver of excitement ran up and down her spine…no suppressing possible. Confused and maybe a tiny little bit aroused, she started shampooing her hair and used the resulting foam to lather her body with it. Her head tilted back again and she closed her eyes as she started to stroke her hand down her jaw line and throat, lower over her collar bone and over her sternum, brushing her delicate nipples as she continued.

Damon swallowed hard as he drank in the sight of her hand sliding further downward, reaching her flat stomach, making one circle around her belly button and finally vanishing between her legs. He saw her squeezing her hand once… and… twice over her core before she retraced it. Damon blinked in disbelief, having a hard time keeping his erection at bay. _God_, she was so beautiful and the way she stood there under the spray, her body in a perfect s-shape, enhancing her wonderful round ass deliciously, looking like a sculpture.

Sure as hell he knew it wasn't nice to spy upon her, but damn, it had been too tempting. And from what he had seen it had been totally worth it. Just as Elena turned off the spray Damon vamp speeded back to the couch, pretending to be still asleep.

Elena wrapped herself into one of the fluffy towels and glimpsed over to the couch. _Whew!_ Damon seemed to be blessed with a very deep sleep she thought happily and began to towel herself quickly.

"Morning, sunshine!" Damon purred behind her and smirked when he made her cringe.

"Argh, Damon! You scared me!" she exhaled, her heartbeat speeding up. She felt caught, although she hadn't done anything or at least nothing he could know.

"Bad conscience?" he teased her, enjoying it way too much how her cheeks flushed pink.

"No! Of course not. Why should I?" she asked back innocently, but avoided to meet his eyes at all. She only had washed herself, hadn't she? There was nothing to it! Aside from the fact, that she might have enjoyed it a little bit too much. His scent all over her had just overwhelmed her. Elena bit down on her lower lip, slightly embarrassed by her own reaction.

"Um, I don't know," he replied with a neutral face, but raised his eyebrows when he witnessed the way her teeth were ashamedly scrunching her full bottom lip. She thought about her shower; he would bet on it!

Elena just nodded, sensing his eyes lingering on her frame, and combed her wet hair with the aim to stifle the uncomfortable feeling of being exposed because she wore nothing but a towel which barely covered her behind.

"We definitely need to add some shampoo for you too the shopping list. It's weird that you smell like me!" he mentioned casually when he turned around, but he stopped when he saw Elena's reaction. She suddenly stiffened and stared at him wide-eyed, her cheeks crimson red. As fast as she could she faced the mirror again and continued the hair combing.

She liked it, didn't she? Damon smirked cockily and felt suddenly very self-satisfied knowing that she had thought about him while touching herself. Still grinning all over his face he walked over to the bedroom and changed his clothes for the day; going for black as almost always. While he pulled his jeans up, his gaze fell upon his bed and a realization hit him. It had been a very long time since a woman had slept there… for a whole night and from now on it would remain like this. He had never thought about settling down with a woman, at least not since his vampire existence. Damon had always enjoyed the company of many different women, but never had come close to being in a relationship. He wasn't used to that and now that they had been forced into this blood-slave issue. All his choices had been taken away from him. Suddenly he understood Elena's outburst last night much better, now his own shock hit him with delay. She wasn't bound to him, another vampire could come and take her or she would leave voluntarily, but he would end up dead in any case. _Great!_

Otherwise, Elena was also a gift, even though she still was a mystery to him. He didn't know what would be revealed of her past, but it was pretty easy to like her. Under all the shit that was her cross to bear, she had remained a tough woman who knew what she wanted and who was brave enough to stand up against a vampire. Not to mention that she was beautiful like a goddess. And to be honest he was fond of the way she seemed to need him too. Not just the basic need her gene caused, but also that her soul demanded to be comforted. The desire to protect her, to give her the badly required reassurance, that nothing would ever harm her again, made him feel connected to her in a way that the gene alone could never cause.

Suddenly he knew that he wanted their connection to work, not because he was forced into it, or because he could die, but because for once in his life he had the chance to do something good and maybe, if he won't fail, he could be loved one day.

"Everything okay?" Elena asked softly, knowing from his absent look that she had interrupted his thoughts.

"Um, sure! What's up?" he smiled at her, causing Elena to look at him with amazement. She had never seen him smile like this before and although she knew that he was extremely good looking, she was stunned how this smile and the glint in his beautiful blue eyes could still top it all.

"Elena?" he asked and his smile turned into a smug grin which made her think straight again.

"Um, you know, I just wanted to ask if there is something edible in your kitchen. I'm… pretty hungry…," she admitted shyly, almost afraid, and studied the floor while her heart thundered momentarily in her chest.

Damon noticed her hesitation and her odd behaviour, but he could only guess where it came from. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for him, not anymore. He needed to know the truth.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Hi! Here comes Chapter 6. Thank you so much for your reviews, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope you're going to like this one, too. Let me know ;)

Thank you, shoppe69, for your incredible help and the time you invest in this story!

xoxo Giuna

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**Chapter 6**

"Elena, what's wrong?" he inquired softly and without the slightest hint of pressure in his voice.

"Wha... what do you mean?" she stuttered insecure, having a clue what he was referring to, but she wasn't able to admit it yet.

"I think that you seem to be afraid of asking me something, as if you're expecting something terrible to happen if you do," he pointed out. Elena started to bite her fingernails nervously. _What was she supposed to do?_ He was right; she was afraid, so afraid! Not only of the reason for her fear, but also of what he was going to think of her when he found out.

"Elena?" he pushed a little and suddenly he wanted to be near her. Not quite sure whether it was a good or a bad idea, he walked over to her to support her, to let her know that he was there for her no matter what. Elena looked up wide-eyed, not understanding why he was coming closer, but before she could take a step backwards he reached for her and took her shaking hands in his strong ones.

"Please open up to me, I really want to help you," Damon whispered down to her, smiling encouragingly. Elena swallowed around the lump in her throat as she gazed into his eyes, searching them for a proof that he was telling the truth. There was nothing but concern in his eyes… maybe he honestly cared.

At this very moment she sensed that it was time to give up her defenses; more so, she really wanted to trust him. She took a deep breath, searching for the right words to express what she had buried deep within her for so long.

"I had to pay, Damon. I hate to ask for anything, because no matter how small my need had been, I always had to pay for it," she explained, not able to hide the disgust in her voice.

"How?" he asked with a blank expression on his face, desperately trying to hide the rage that was boiling up inside him. She stared at him in shock, grinding her teeth.

"I'm sure you know how." Her voice wasn't more than a faint whisper.

"I guess I do, but maybe it's time you say it out loud…," he managed to say calmly.

"I can't, Damon!" she pleaded; louder then.

"Yes, you can, Elena! Say it!"

"NO!"

"Say it!" he screamed at her.

"He raped me! Okay?" she screamed in return as loud as she could, with tears in her brown doe eyes. "For every fucking sip of water he raped me! And it hurt so much, Damon! He just wouldn't stop! He never stopped…" Her voice broke during the last sentence as she cried and sobbed in pain, disgust and embarrassment. Overwhelmed by her emotions, it took some time until she realized that Damon had wrapped his strong arms around her, steadying her shaking body.

"It's okay Elena. Let it out. Let it all out," he soothed her and held her tight to his chest, stroking her back all along.

Hysterically she cried into his chest, fighting for air in-between sobs. Being clueless what to do to calm down, she hugged him back desperately and pulled him even closer against her. But the flood of emotions wouldn't stop crashing down on her; she had said it out loud! For the first time in years she had finally said the words which made it even more real. And it was all her fault! She had been so damn stupid to trust Mason. How the hell could someone be so stupid and naïve? The shame inside of her kept her from breathing and within seconds she needed space; the proximity to Damon not bearable any longer. Crying and screaming she punched against his arms and chest as hard as she could to free herself, but he wouldn't let her go.

"It's all my fault!" she wept for dear life.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"It's all my fault!" she breathed out again in despair as her legs collapsed under her from exhaustion.

"I got you!" Damon kept her from falling. He lifted her up into his arms, walked over to his bed and sat down there with Elena on his lap. She was quiet then; staring blankly into the air while her head rested limply against the crook of his neck.

Damon encircled her waist with his arms and gave her some time to collect herself, not least because he needed some time, too. He had expected that it would be horrible, but what just happened boggled his mind outright. Why the hell did she blame herself?

"Elena? How could you even think that?" he dared to ask, feeling her cringing in his embrace. She didn't answer him. She felt so pathetic and definitely not worth his time.

"Elena… answer me, please?" he begged in a soft voice. He was sure that she was wrong. It couldn't be her fault. How could something like that be the victims fault? He didn't get it. And he wanted to convince her of that. She had never spoken to anyone about that before; God knows what had bottled-up in her mind during those two years of living hell. Damon could feel her fresh tears running down his collarbone and soaking his shirt, but she had stopped sobbing. She lay in his arms completely immobile. He opened his mouth to beg her again when she finally spoke again.

"I'm so ashamed of myself, Damon," she admitted in a whisper against his neck. "I'm afraid what you might think of me," she added honestly, wiping away her tears.

"Don't be. I won't judge you," he promised her, crooking his neck aside to get a glimpse on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, but her face was white as a blanket. Damon swallowed at her sight, unsure what might come next.

It cost her a great effort to give in to him, and it took some time until she was ready to reveal her dark secret. At least it would be out in the open and maybe less painful than it had been during the times she had tortured herself, she thought.

"After my parents died two years ago, I met Mason and granted him willingly access to my life, my house and even my heart. I was too stupid to see through him. Or maybe I just didn't want to. I was so glad that I had someone to lean on. And then it was too late to take action. He isolated me from my friends, kept me hostage in the basement of my own place and started to rip apart my body and soul." Elena stopped at that point, not able to add more details. She could feel Damon's heavy breathing against her side and thought that he was shocked at her stupidity and that he finally understood why she was to blame.

"I still don't get why this should be your fault, Elena," he informed her, just having a hard time to keep his rage under control. He was so extremely mad at this guy Mason.

"Have you listened to me at all?" she asked, but went on anyway. "I _allowed_ him to creep into my life without hesitation. I practically welcomed him with open arms, without realizing what kind of an asshole he was. Of course it was my fault!" she hissed at him, angry that he didn't want to understand her. Damon tried to gather himself before he answered. It wasn't easy for him to control the emotions running high inside him and he didn't want to let his rage at Mason hit Elena.

"Elena, you felt alone. You had just lost the anchor of your life, your parents. Of course you were happy that there was somebody and sure as hell you didn't hesitate to welcome him into your life. You had been in pain, grieving and in despair and he took full advantage of that. He must be completely fucked up!" he ranted and wasn't able to stop himself from cursing during his last sentence. He just hoped that he finally got through to her.

Elena remained quiet; letting his words sink in to her wounded soul, but she still wasn't fully convinced. Could it really be that simple? Could this really be a way out of the guilt which had consumed her so badly?

"I'm not sure if I can use the loss of my parents as an excuse for my naivity," she told him quietly and avoided to look into his eyes. "What would they think of me? That's not how they raised me," she finished, not able to suppress new tears while she thought of her parents whom she still missed so much.

"Maybe not, but I'm pretty sure they didn't prepare you for their early death either. Besides, nobody acts rationally after losing beloved family members or friends for that matter. And I know what I'm talking about. I lost pretty much everybody I had. So yes, Elena, you can absolutely take the loss of your parents as an excuse for your behaviour. And to answer your other question; I assume that they would feel very sorry for what happened to you and that they would wish nothing on you but to find the happiness which you definitely deserve," he finished his speech, wiping the tears off her soaked face.

"You really think so?" she wept once more and finally she felt something like redemption flowing into her shattered soul.

"Yes Elena, I really do. And so should you. It wasn't your fault!"

"It's so hard to believe, I felt it for so long," she admitted silently, not sure what else to say. She had truly believed that she was the one to blame. How was she supposed to just give up on that conviction?

"I understand, but Elena, if you ever want to recover you have to believe that it is true," he stressed the last words to reassure her one more time. "Otherwise I'm not sure if you will ever be able to move on," he added with sadness in his voice and a pained expression on his face.

"You're right Damon. I wouldn't be able to recover or to move on, but so far the thought never crossed my mind." Her words and the crestfallen expression on her face made his still heart ache in a way he hadn't experienced ever before.

"Don't say that, Elena. You _will_ be able to live your life again. It may take some time, but one day you will notice that you have just stopped thinking about it. We will find a way. I promise!" His tender words sounded heavenly and she wanted to believe them so badly, but it was too soon.

"Can't you just make me forget?" she wanted to know, her words filled with hope as she remembered his ability to mess with her mind. He gave her an ironic smirk, but she couldn't grasp the reason.

"I'm sorry Elena, I can't. The side effect of being my blood-slave is that you may consider yourself lucky to be out of my reach when it comes to compulsion," he updated her unhappily.

"That sucks!" she whined, feeling deprived of an easy way to escape her memories.

"Besides, I'm not sure if I would have been successful. Even when I tried before the blood exchange, you have accomplished to resist my compulsion, remember? That was pretty impressive!" he complimented her, trying to lead their conversation into another direction.

"Yeah, that's all me!" she joked and smiled at him, thankful that he changed the subject.

"Look who is all cocky now," he teased her; genuinely happy to see her smile again.

"I'm not and you know it," she said casually. "But guess what I still am?"

"Um, hungry?" he assumed while he listened to the angry growl of her stomach.

"Exactly! Actually, I'm starving. I didn't eat anything since we met," she realized just then.

"Damn it Elena. I'm sorry! I'm a total douche. I should have thought about it the night before! C'mon, get ready and then we'll leave to get you something to eat and to wear," he suggested and shoved her off his lap.

Already packed with lots of bags and still sated from the breakfast at Starbucks, Damon and Elena strolled through the crowded streets of New York. The noise and the rush of the vivid city was something Elena wasn't used to. She had never experienced something like that before, since Waterville was nothing but a sleepy little town. Just after a short while, she had to admit that she really started to like the colorful city, which seemed to be full of fantastic opportunities. Wherever she turned her head, her wide eyes couldn't stop staring. Especially the giant skyscrapers rising up into the clear blue sky caught her gaze over and over again. Standing by a red traffic light, she once again tilted her head back to take in the impressive view when she suddenly got dizzy due to the illusion that the building was shaking. Unintentionally, she stumbled against Damon's chest and faced him.

"Whoa, there!" he grinned at her, glad that she had loosened up for the last couple of hours. He enjoyed seeing the excitement sparkling in her eyes.

"Oops. I'm sorry," she shrugged and smiled brightly at him, their faces only inches away from one another In a fraction of a second, their eyes locked and although the traffic light changed to green and the flood of people continued its way, they stood there, immobile. Elena's smile faded slowly as she dived into Damon's blueness that was his eyes, not capable of looking away. She could feel the intense tension between them increasing, together with the heat that radiated from their bodies.

Damon felt her hands digging into his hard chest and her warm breath, which caressed his face, let him swallow hard. He was mesmerized by the way she invaded his eyes and how the expression on her face slowly changed from just smiling into longing. If he hadn't been packed with all the bags, he gladly would have pulled her even closer to him.

Elena wasn't thinking straight anymore, captured in this moment and… in his eyes… she turned off her mind which had screamed at her to back off. She blocked out their surroundings, she was only capable of sensing his body close to hers and that it felt good… and… right. Hesitantly, she lifted her hand to stroke the crook of his neck softly, closing the remaining distance between them inch by inch.

Damon's lips parted slightly while he relished the way Elena's warm hand slide over his cool skin as his own desire washed over him. He needed her lips on his and it cost him all his willpower to stay put. He knew he had to wait until she was ready to kiss him.

Elena closed her eyes when their lips where only apart by a hairbreadth. She parted her lips, getting lost in the feeling of excitement and lust which danced deep inside her belly. But then... everything stopped. Another feeling dislodged the wonderful sensation she had just experienced for the first time in her life. A feeling that send cold and piercing shivers up and down her spine.

She froze in the motion, tilting her head away from Damon only to press her body as close against him as possible.

"Wha…What's wrong Elena?" Damon asked dumbfounded at the abrupt end of their almost kiss.

"I think he's here!" she said terrified as a rush of adrenaline chased through her system.

"Wait, who are you talking about?" he asked confused while his body still attempted to process the massiv change of the situation.

"Mason! I'm talking about Mason!" she whispered against his chest, trying frantically to shield her body from the eyes she still felt piercing her back like a sharp razor.

"What? Where is he?" Damon asked eagerly, searching their vicinity for a conspicuous looking guy, letting the bags drop onto the ground.

_Oh yeah, he would love to meet this bastard! _

"I don't know, I haven't seen him, but I can sense that he is observing me. How did he find me so quickly? He wasn't supposed to find me at all! And he is furious, Damon. He saw us, he saw I was about to ki…," she bit her lip to stop herself from finishing the sentence.

"Elena, please calm down…," Damon started, holding her at her shoulders as her voice reached an insane pitch, but Elena didn't hear him.

"He is going to kill me, Damon!" She screeched and started to hyperventilate. "He is so jealous. And seeing me with another guy right after I escaped him...Oh no, no, no… Please! That can't happen. He will get me…Oh my God he will get me and then he will rip me apart, right after ra…"

"ELENA!" Damon thundered while he shook her shoulders. She gasped erratically as she gazed at him wide-eyed, angst written all over her face. He stared back at her, holding her gaze to get through to her.

"Please calm down. Believe me; he isn't going to hurt you ever again! I'm here and I'm not letting him anywhere near you. Don't forget that I'm a vampire, Elena. I might behave civilized around you, but that doesn't mean that I really am. If anybody will be ripped apart, then it is definitely going to be him," Damon promised her and witnessed her eyes grew even wider as his harsh words sank in.

She felt intimidated by his threat, even though it wasn't directed at her; actually quite the opposite was the case. However, seeing his rage on his face reminded her all too well of their encounter two days ago. She realized that it was happening again.

All over again she trusted an obviously dangerous man! And not only trusted him but kind of fell for him, too! She would never learn her lesson, would she? But then she shook her head in disbelief. Her mind was messing with her heart once more. Damon had proven to her that he could be trusted and his murderous expression was another proof to her. He might be dangerous, but he would use his strength to protect her and not only to save his own life, as she had thought at first, but also to make hers worth living again. It would have been more than easy for him to throw her in a basement and to feed from her whenever he needed to. But he hadn't and that meant everything to her.

"Elena?" Damon interrupted her thoughts, desperately trying to interpret the flood of emotions flickering over her face.

"Yes?" she asked, not knowing what else to say while she still dealt with her previous realization.

"Are you okay?" he wanted to know, still not able to figure her out.

"Yes, I think so." She nodded to emphasize her words.

"Can you still sense him?" Damon was panting for her answer. He had no objections to rip Mason apart right now.

"No, I can't. I guess he's gone," she said after concentrating on sensing the creepy feeling once more.

"Too bad," he declared disappointed. "Well, I think we should go home then, how do you feel about it?"

"Yeah, let's go… home," she tried the word on her tongue. It didn't feel too bad. "But not before looting a grocery store, ok?" she joked, surprised about herself. It was totally unlike her, but in Damon's company she was able to make a full recovery from a mature panic attack within minutes. She even managed to stand the knowledge that Mason might be less than 200 feet away from her. _How odd was that?_

Back in the apartment, Elena unpacked the bags and put all her new clothes on top of the giant bed while Damon prepared dinner for them. He had also eaten breakfast with her. Actually, she had thought that vampires didn't do human food… _Huh?_

She realized that she didn't know much about him and planned to ask him during dinner. While she looked down on all the beautiful clothes he had bought for her, her thoughts drifted back to their shopping trip.

Damon had been very kind and understanding, so it had been out of question that he would pay for all the things they had chosen. And that had been a lot. They had started with the "basics" as he had called it, like a couple of skinny jeans, shorts, shirts, tops, cardigans, blouses, dresses and some light jackets. She had been stunned while Damon hadn't stopped picking more and more clothes for her. _Hello?_ Two outfits would have been totally fine with her. But he had insisted on buying it all.

"Don't worry about the money. I don't!" he had winked at her with a grin all over his face. The problem was that her parents had taught her to be modest and to not take prosperity for granted. Therefore she had hesitated to just grab whatever she had liked while roaming the first boutique they had entered.

"It appears to me that you kinda need a fast healing of brooding over the money," he had blurted out from right behind her as he had watched her gazing shocked at the price label of a beautiful midnight blue strapless dress, before he had took it off the clothing rail.

"C'mon," he had pushed her gently to the cash desk, his hand never leaving the small of her back. She had swallowed while his touch had caused a tingle running in circles round and round her body, like the effect of a tiny explosion.

She pinpointed this moment to be the first time her body had responded to him without the gene's influence.

At first she had been tempted to fight the feeling when her mind told her that she couldn't be ready to let another man anywhere near her, touching her, making her feel this way. Only that Damon's hand on her back felt nothing like she had experienced so far and her mind lost its cause instantly. She gave in to the sensation of his soft touch. She hadn't been sure if Damon had noticed the shift in her caused by the longing, but when they reached the cash desk, he had smiled at her with shining eyes. She had looked away quickly, too shy to let him know for sure what had been going on inside her.

She really must be a total mess in his eyes, she thought. A minute ago she had been sitting on his lap, crying out her eyes over the way she had been raped and suddenly the slightest touch of him made her lady parts act up. Something must be totally wrong with her, or maybe she desperately craved to feel something that could fix her violated soul, she thought.

Their next destination had been Manolo Blahniks and yes, Damon had been successful in healing her money issue. She had totally fallen for a pair of midnight blue high heels and some black, skinny knee-high boots and Damon had gladly paid $2,000 without even blinking.

Holding said high heels in her hands she still couldn't believe that she now owned two pairs of Manolo Blahniks. She removed the price labels from her new clothes, folded them tidily and arranged them in her part of Damon's closet, which was luckily big enough for the two of them. When she reached the heaps of her new underwear, she froze in the motion.

Before she and Damon had entered Victoria's Secrets, she had felt a lump down in her stomach. _Victoria's Secrets? Seriously?_ But she had been too much of a coward to voice her doubts. Besides, Damon had behaved like the perfect gentleman, staying in the background and letting her chose what she wanted to buy.

Only once he had said something to her and unfortunately, it had been the absolutely worst thing he could've said.

"Those with the front clasps are right over there," he had informed her, tilting his head mischievously in the direction of the bras. When he saw the shattered expression on her face, he had instantly regretted opening his mouth.

"I have said something wrong, haven't I?" he had asked carefully, trying to catch her gaze. She had sighed heavily before she had been able to answer.

"Mason loved those bras and therefore I hate them," she had said sharply, the loathing in her voice almost palpable.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry Elena. It wasn't my intention to remind you of that," he had sincerely apologized.

"It's okay, I guess. He has always brought me stuff which made me feel like a cheap whore. Just like these," she pointed at her shorts and tank top she had been forced to wear again since she hadn't had an alternative. "I'm just glad that I can choose all by myself now." She had smiled at him, probably more thankful than he could ever imagine.

"Well, why don't you change now?" he had suggested with a smile on his face.

"You're right! I could do that, couldn't I?" she had asked excited.

"Absolutely. May I suggest the pretty blue dress?" His smile still plastered on his face.

"Don't you think that would be too much? I mean, we're just on a shopping trip…"

"Nope, _because_ we're on a shopping trip in New York City. The words "too much" don't exist here, believe me," he had reassured her, already fumbling for the bag with the dress in it.

"Ok. But not without my new high heels." She had beamed at him like a little girl on Christmas Eve.

"No question. There you go," he had replied, handing her the dress and the shoes.

After she had found a beautiful strapless bra and the matching panties, which had the exact same colour like the dress, she had entered one of the changing cubicles to try all the new bras and panties on. She hadn't picked out the ultra seductive garments, but the lingerie she had chosen for herself made her feel a little prettier nonetheless.

When she had finished trying on everything, she had kept the strapless bra and slipped into the dress and the Manolo´s. Examining her own appearance in the floor-length mirror, she had gasped in disbelief. She really looked different; somehow graceful, more grown-up and definitely not cheap anymore. She had smiled brightly at herself in the mirror before she had left the changing cubicle to find Damon. Although she wasn't used to those high heels, she had accomplished to walk quite comfortably and stable. She moved around the shelving of the store over to where Damon had been standing with his back to her.

"Hey there, I'm ready," she had informed him, tipping his shoulder with her fingertip.

He had turned around while putting his Iphone back into the pocket of his jeans and had frozen at her sight.

"Elena, wow… you look… stunning," he had complimented her with his mouth hanging open.

"Thank you, Damon," she had managed to answer shyly to the first compliment she had received in a very, very long time.

After the lingerie shopping, she had tossed all of her old clothes forcefully into a nearby trashcan. It was a simple act, but for her it had felt like the first step towards her inner freedom.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello you guys.

So what have we got here? Right! It's chapter 7 of my story! Yay! Thank you so much, shoppe69, for your help. Without you, this chapter wouldn't be as smooth as it is now :*

As always I want to thank the lovelies who take the time to continually review. It really means the world to me and this time I'm even more excited to know what you think about it, so please let me know.

xoxo Giuna

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**Chapter 7**

Elena walked into the kitchen and found Damon already filling two plates with his self-made pasta Bolognese.

"Oh my God, Damon, this smells heavenly," she said in joyful anticipation.

"Well, wait until you taste it," he replied smugly with a crooked grin on his beautiful face. He placed the plates on the small kitchen-table which he had already set with two glasses of wine, silverware and two napkins. While they sat down at the small table, Elena took a deep breath and sighed with bliss.

"Bon appétit," Damon said, his eyes still glued to her relaxed and happy face.

"Bon appétit," she replied hungrily and didn't hesitate to dig in. Within minutes she finished her plate, rested against the back of her chair and took the glass of red wine. Sipping on it, she enjoyed the rich flavour which swirled over her taste buds while she observed Damon emphatically. Even when he was eating, he looked gorgeous; staring at the way his mouth and lips moved, reminded her all too well of the kiss they had almost shared. During that short moment she had known that it would have been the right thing to do. Unfortunately that moment had been destroyed by Mason's disturbance. She was still horrified by his appearance and the way her body had reacted to his scornful looks, but it hadn't surprised her. The disgust for him was so deeply rooted in her body that she responded almost unconsciously.

Although the sparkling tension between them was still amazing, she still couldn't separate her very own feelings from the urge to be near Damon driven by the blood-slave sense. Damon had fed on her 23 hours ago which meant that they had only 1 hour left until her body would have finished producing the extra amount for him and she wouldn't be able to stand the urge any longer.

"Is everything ok?" he asked and pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I just thought, you know, why you are eating human food since you'll have to feed on me… soon...ish?" she asked and felt kind of stupid, almost intrusive, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't able to think fully rational anymore.

"Ha," he laughed and grinned at her. "I'm not going to reject you. Don't worry, you're irresistible to me," he said in a husky voice which hit Elena quite unprepared straight between her legs.

"Oh," she breathed, becoming restless on her chair. She urgently needed to change the subject. "Sooo..., you can eat, but it doesn't sate you?" she interrogated, glad that she remembered to ask him this question, while she tried to withstand the confusion caused by the gene's pull.

"Exactly. Only that it tastes so much better since I'm a vampire," he answered in a sing song voice and winked at her. Elena flushed instantly; unintentionally sending a wave of her unique and calling perfume straight into his nose and then further into his system.

Damon stopped chewing and tried to collect himself. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get himself under control. He had felt his hunger already half an hour ago, and the time Elena had spent in the bedroom had made resisting the overwhelming urge to be near her quite a challenge. It had been better since she had entered the kitchen, but now…well…like she said…he needed to feed on her soon.

"And why is that?" he heard her voice but wasn't sure what to answer. What had they been talking about anyway? Damn it…, all he could concentrate on was her thick, sweet blood. Its sound while it circulated in her beautiful, flawless body right underneath her velvet skin and its intoxicating scent which made his mouth water in anticipation. _His_ blood within her veins pushed itself to the surface, calling for _him _in a strange melody he couldn't resist any longer.

"Damon?" she said, not quite sure what she was referring to; the question he hadn't answered so far or the fact that she needed him to feed on her now. She caught his gaze and gasped with desire as her heart picked up its beat. Right in front of her wasn't Damon, the gorgeous guy, no, right in front of her was Damon, the undisguised vampire, with elongated teeth and bloodshot eyes and that turned her on like nothing else ever before.

She swallowed at his sight and didn't care to hide the lust that was written all over her face when her gene took control over her emotions.

"You ready?" he asked. Although he saw the answer clearly showing on her face, he needed to hear her say it out loud.

Elena crooked her head to the side and gave him a hot, devilish smirk.

"What do you think?" she beckoned him lasciviously. That was all Damon needed. In vampire speed he was around the table and had lifted her up and onto the cold granite countertop. Elena squeaked in surprise when her butt came in contact with the smooth surface, but smiled at him. Damon's eyes held hers while he spread her legs to step between them. He cupped her buttocks and pulled her even closer in one swift move. Their faces where only inches apart while a battle started within him. It was the fight between his own wish to finally kiss her and the immense attraction of her blood that called for him with desperate need. Almost frustrated with himself, he tucked her hair aside, and lowered his teeth to their destination. The second she felt his hand cupping her right cheek, Elena gasped with excitement while his tongue licked slowly over her thundering pulse point. He wrapped his free arm around her back and surrendered to his satisfactory task ahead. The second his teeth sank into her sensitive skin, Elena moaned in pleasure.

_It felt so good!_ Every single drop of her blood leaving her body made her feel whole, complete and highly delighted. She fixated him with her left hand around his neck and pushed herself even closer into Damon's mouth. He responded immediately with a groan and started to caress her lower back with his fingertips. He had wanted to kiss her so badly earlier this day that he couldn't resist the temptation to touch her at least slightly. But this slight touch caused Elena's insides to literally explode. She dug her fingers into his neck and squirmed in his solid embrace, not knowing how to deal with the flood of sexual ecstasy running through her body.

"Damon?" she whined with need, although she didn't know how she wanted him to help her. Damon pulled away from her instantly, misreading her plea and healed the bite marks with a few drops of his own blood.

"I'm sorry, Elena. Did I take too much?" he asked, searching her gaze once more. Elena breathed intermittently and had not quite recovered yet. She needed to calm down and she needed to push those feelings away!

_Damn_, he just had touched her a little. No reason to get all mushy… right?

"No, no, you haven't," she replied, still shaky and irritated.

"Oh, okay?!" Now he was confused as well, but searching her eyes once more the truth hit him like a hammer. _Oh fuck!_

The very second Elena saw him putting one and one together, she blushed instantly. She was all herself again, but with one difference: What had just happened proved that she indeed wanted Damon, with or without the gene's influence. It had felt right and although she wasn't as self-confident as under the gene's spell, she couldn't ignore that she would have loved to kiss him straightaway.

The moment had passed, Damon saw it on her face and he stepped away to grant her space. He wasn't upset, quite the contrary to be honest. He spotted it in the depth of her brown doe eyes. She wanted him and sooner or later she would kiss him, he just needed to be patient. If he had learned one thing during his long existence, it was that waiting for special things to happen always pays off.

Later that night, Elena rested mutedly on Damon's bed and stared up to the ceiling. She was a coward! Again she had more or less fled Damon just to avoid the inevitable. Yes, she wanted to kiss him and although that moment in the kitchen had been full of crackling tension, it hadn't seemed right. She needed him to know that she, Elena, wanted to kiss him and that it had nothing to do with the gene.

She thought about the perfect opportunity during their shopping trip and sighed. She had almost felt his lips on hers, but then, as usual, Mason had ruined everything. If looks could kill, she would be dead by now and she was very relieved that she hadn't seen his ugly and furious face. Unfortunately, all she could imagine when she closed her eyes was said terrifying face. She rolled from one side to the other, but Mason's visage seemed to be imprinted on her mind. When sleep finally took over, she drifted straight into the darkness that was closely tied to him.

Damon jumped awake, hearing Elena screaming in pain. Without a second thought, he used his vampire speed and bolted into his bedroom, only to find Elena fighting against an invisible enemy.

"Elena?" he shouted when he jumped onto the bed right next to her. He grabbed her shoulders to shake her, but she wouldn't open her eyes. She was fast asleep.

"Elena! Wake up, babe. Everything is okay, please wake up! C'mon, Elena, wake up!" he yelled at her, but she remained fighting and screaming, trapped in her own nightmare, in her own living hell.

"_Fuck_, Elena! I really hope this is going to work!" he hissed with clenched teeth. He wasn't sure if he would be able to invade her dream, maybe her gene wouldn't grant him access to her mind. Damon took her shaking hand into his calm one and caressed the silken surface of its back. When he closed his eyes, he concentrated on the connection between their hands and a picture of Elena's face popped up in his mind. She looked beautiful as always; an inviting hint of a smile on her facial features, and he literally dived into her chocolate brown depths that were her eyes. The pull drew him into a whirlwind of pictures, memories and snippets of Elena's thoughts, but so fast that he couldn't read them, until he landed straight in her dream. Or better, her nightmare. What he saw shocked him more than everything he had ever seen before. Not because he hadn't seen a woman getting raped before, but because he hadn't seen _his_ woman getting raped before.

**The following paragraph contains a description of rape. If you don't want to read it, please skip it!**

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Mason and Elena lay on top of a bed in a room Damon didn't recognize. Mason moved naked between Elena's forcibly spread legs, pounding into her small body with all his strength. His face showed a mixture of lust and exertion. The room was filled with Elena's heartbreaking screams. She was fighting for dear life, trying to push him off of her, but without the slightest success. Her tear-streaked face was filled with pure despair and humiliation while all she could do was to wait for him to finish.

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In less than a second Damon reached the bed and ripped Mason away from his girl, crashing him against the wall on the opposite side of the bed where his body instantly went limp. It was really tempting to tear him to shreds, but this was only a dream even though he was sure that it had happened the way he had just witnessed it. His top priority was to save Elena. Not just from Mason, but also from her painful memory. He was at Elena's side in the blink of an eye, and covered her still shaking body with the sheets while she sat huddled against the headboard.

"Elena, I'm right here. It's okay," he tried to soothe her and sank down beside her.

"Damon?" she whimpered with a broken voice. The moment she realized that he was there, she wrapped her arms around his back without the slightest hesitation.

"How… How did you find me?" she sobbed relieved against his chest, curling into a small ball of white sheets before Damon wrapped his arms around her petite form.

"I found you screaming in my bedroom, Elena. You're sleeping! This isn't real," he wanted to comfort her.

"It was…," she whispered humiliated, with her heart thundering in her chest.

"I know. I'm so, so sorry, Elena," he gasped, suddenly feeling all her emotions as if they were his own, feeling himself tremble due to the lack of air in his lungs.

"Let's get outta here," he pressed. _How was she able to survive even one day feeling like that? _

"Close your eyes, Elena," he requested smoothly and tightened his grip around her hip and legs.

Elena complied and felt nothing but the deep exceptional connection between the two of them. It felt like they were travelling through space and time and at the end of their journey she felt whole again.

"You can open your eyes now," Damon said softly against her forehead, stroking her back gently.

Still flustered, Elena needed a moment to regain her composure. She blinked a couple of times to realize where she was and that everything was okay. It was more than okay. Damon was with her, held her and had saved her from one of her darkest memories and all she could feel at that moment was sheer gratitude.

Elena tilted her head back to see Damon's beautiful blue eyes and unleashed all her emotions when she started to smile.

"Hey there," he smiled softly in return. "I'm glad you're back," he said honestly.

"Me too," she whispered and pressed her lips together when her feelings washed over her. She sat up straight in front of him, gazing at him through a blur of tears, glad that his hands remained on her back. She needed him to know how grateful she was.

"Damon… I… I can't tell you how much it means to me what you just did… in my dream. That was the first time _ever_ that someone rescued me…"

"Hey, it's okay. You really don't have to thank me for that…," he interrupted her, taking his actions for granted.

"Of course I have to. It means the world to me. It means one time less enduring this ferocity," she explained, laying her heart bare with every word.

"So…," she started quietly and craned her neck towards his right cheek, "Thank you!" she breathed into his ear and placed the gentlest of kisses on his cheek. Slowly, she pulled her head back, brushing his cheek with hers as she went. When their faces were almost apart, she stopped. Searching his eyes, she found affection and safety in them and before she could think twice, she listened to her racing heart and brushed his lips with hers.

Damon blinked repeatedly in sheer wonder because he hadn't seen it coming, but immediately he gave in to the sensation of her lips. She kissed him in a way that was totally new to him. Her lips moved so carefully and slowly over his, it felt almost innocent, as if this was the first time she initiated a kiss all by herself. Maybe it really was… Damon responded similarly, enjoying the gentle play of their lips and her body beneath his hands at the same time, well knowing what this must mean to her. And he was absolutely aware of what it meant for him. She trusted him. She trusted him more than she feared sharing any kind of intimacy. Was it possible that she even liked him? Suddenly, a flood of long gone emotions rushed through him, straight into his still heart which felt a little warmer for one moment.

Elena's pulse grew faster and faster the longer they shared the kiss. Damon's full lips felt like heaven, letting her insides tingle in a completely new way and together with his tender hands on the small of her back it didn't take long until she wanted more. The problem was that she had no idea how to voice this. All of a sudden she felt inexperienced and insecure in her conduct. Feeling embarrassed, she pulled away from Damon. Shyly she stared down on the tiny space between their bodies.

"Is everything okay?" Damon asked instantly, hoping that he hadn't done anything wrong.

"It's more than okay, it's just…," she stopped in the middle of the sentence, not sure what to say.

"What is it? Elena? Please talk to me," he begged her to open up and cupped her chin with his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. The blush on her face surprised him. She still tried to avoid his eyes, searching for the right words to say.

"Tell me…," he pushed and watched her as she bit her plump bottom lip firmly.

"I want more, Damon," she finally admitted so quietly that without his vampire hearing he wouldn't have heard her at all. He smiled gently at her.

"But?" he pushed her further, desperate to know what she was thinking.

"But…," she paused once more and exhaled sharply before summoning the courage to tell him. "I feel so inhibited; I don't even know how to show you what I want. Actually, I'm ashamed that I want something at all. And I do, Damon, I really want you. But saying it out loud makes me feel like I'm betraying myself. And that again makes me angry about myself. I want to move on so much and I know I can trust you and I'm so happy about that. I just want to share that happiness with you but my freaking mind always steps in the way," she paused and caressed the hair on the back of his neck.

"Elena-," Damon wanted to reply so badly, but she went on.

"And I'm really afraid to disappoint you and that I'm possibly not able to give you what you want," she added in a very quiet voice with flushed cheeks, withdrawing her hand from his neck.

Damon closed his eyes to collect himself and to keep him from kissing her senseless right here and now. _Damn it_, she really wanted him, and she might not know it but her honesty and her concern about his opinion stole his breath away.

"First of all, this isn't about me, above all this is about you feeling comfortable with what we're doing. Second of all, you can't disappoint me, Elena. What you're giving to me is very special, don't ever doubt that. You said it yourself, you _trust_ me. And because you trust me you don't have to be ashamed of what you want or how to express your emotions. Please believe me when I say that I'm not going to think badly about you, I won't. And so should you," he soothed her, examining her face that seemed more reassured now.

"Okay," she said slowly.

"And third of all, to be intimate with another person has nothing to do with certain abilities. It's about letting go," he finished, but as he watched her he saw that his words had hit a nerve and that she had doubts. "You did it before, you know? The night you told me to bite you, you were capable of letting go," he reminded her.

"Yeah, but that...," she started, but Damon interrupted her.

"I know, you were all gene…ish and had lost control over your body, just like the other times your blood was concerned. Actually, that's exactly the point. You need to be ready and willing to lose control without the gene's influence. And I can only imagine how hard this must be for you," he explained and hoped he hadn't pushed her away with his honest words.

"You're right; I guess that is the problem. To let go and putting myself in the hands of somebody else." Elena said finally, grateful that he tried to understand her.

"Not somebody's hands, Elena, in _my_ hands," he corrected her and smiled.

She returned the smile and nodded, suddenly feeling much more light-hearted than before. She wasn't with just any man, she was with Damon.

"Speaking of those hands… would you mind hugging me?" she asked with a shy smile on her face, not able to stand the distance between them any longer.

"Of course not," he grinned, pulled her gently closer, wrapping her body in his strong arms, his palms flat on her back. She immediately leaned into his embrace and inhaled his manly scent which she loved so much. Thinking about what he had said and feeling how her body reacted to his proximity she couldn't stop her next question.

"And would you mind kissing me?" she whispered quite boldly into his ear.

"Not at all," he purred, tilted his head to the side and let his eyes sway between her eyes and her lips, noticing that she did the same. While he bridged the tiny distance between their lips, Damon could just think about one thing; he would make it up to her for all her suffering and he was going to show her what it really meant to be with a man…to be with him. Ever so gently he brushed his lips over hers and listening to Elena's heartbeat and breathing speeding up, he didn't fail to notice her body's reaction. With her soft moans and the way she responded to him, she let him know that she liked kissing him.

_God, she felt so good in his arms._ Relishing the tenderness but craving more at the same time, he let his hands roam her back and crawl into her hair, pulling her closer and closer.

Her body was trembling under his demanding touch and she felt hot and cold at the same time as she leaned into his kiss.

Not able to keep the tenderness any longer, Damon let his tongue dance lightly over her plump bottom lip, hoping she was ready to grant him entrance.

When Damon explored her mouth, Elena didn't hesitate to meet his cool and silken tongue. The contact caused a wave of pleasure flooding through her, caressing all her body's secret and sensitive spots.

She moaned breathlessly into his mouth while she felt her mind slipping away slowly but surely; finally, she was able to let go. Unleashed, she ran her hands through his hair and tilted her head back when he indulged in showering her jaw, neck and collarbone with open-mouthed kisses. The sounds, his hot breath and the groan that suddenly escaped his lips made her shiver once more.

_How could this feel so good? _His velvet tongue brushing against her warm skin let the ends of her nerves respond in a completely unknown way. Like sweet electricity they exploded one after another, leaving nothing but the need to be closer to him. Without thinking, Elena straddled Damon, pushing her centre to his groin and grabbed his neck so their lips could find one another all over again. She didn't hold back any more, she was too far gone to think clearly. There was only Damon and Damon alone.

Feeling her on his lap and pressed against his already hard manhood, Damon moaned uninhibited while he kissed her passionately. Their tongues caressed each other even wilder and his hands fisted the thin fabric of her shirt on her back, ripping at it.

_He needed to feel her bare skin!_ Slowly, his long sinewy fingers glided over her hips and underneath the shirt, waiting for her response.

"Take it off," she said breathlessly, feeling the same urge to finally sense him skin on skin. Keeping eye-contact all the time, Damon pulled the shirt up higher over her perfectly shaped body, exposing it inch by inch. When he reached her breasts, Elena lifted her arms to help him and in the very next second she was topless.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on, Elena," Damon complimented her while his eyes wandered down from her face over her full breasts, her slender waist to her toned, almost buff stomach.

Elena looked down, feeling her blood rushing to her cheeks, staining them deep red at his compliment, not used to hear such lovely words.

"And you didn't even know," he realized, grabbing her chin to look her straight in the eyes.

"There is no reason to be embarrassed, I'm just telling the truth," he said simply and kissed her once again, holding her close and caressing her with his fingertips from her shoulders down to her hips. She enjoyed the way her body responded with goose bumps and a strong shiver, which caused her private parts to rub unintentionally against Damon's hard member. She gripped the hem of his black shirt and let her fingers slide beneath the fabric to discover the silkiness of his taut back. Moving her own body even closer to his, she pulled his shirt over his head and let it drop haphazardly. The moment she pressed her breasts against his muscular chest she felt like melting on the spot. Damon slid his tongue over the smooth skin of her neck, not able to resist the temptation to slightly bite down on his favourite spot. Elena craned her neck immediately, relishing the familiar feeling of his teeth on her skin. The arousing thrill went straight to her core and between her thighs but paradoxically made herfeel secure, too. While Damon roamed her body with butterfly kisses, Elena threw her head back and used his shoulders to steady herself. With one hand around her waist, and feeling her long hair brushing his arm, he trailed his other hand over her breasts and stomach and all the way back up to cup one breast. He massaged her breast, teased her nipple expertly between his fingers and finally placed his mouth over it. Flicking his tongue over the sensitive nub, he sucked on it carefully until Elena moaned lustfully. Her whole body was on fire for Damon, she felt it prickling everywhere, but she still needed more… so much more. Slowly she started to undulate her hips against Damon's hardness, pushing her hot core against it round for round.

"Mhmm… Damon," she breathed, sensing that this friction was exactly what she needed. Damon groaned excitedly, totally turned on by the fact that she had really managed to give herself to him. He watched her relaxed and appreciative face. She had closed her eyes and her head mirrored the motion of her hips. It looked like she was dancing on his lap. _Damn it_, he needed to touch her, he wanted to feel her wetness not just through the pants but with his fingers.

He lowered her back against the mattress, earning a desperate glare from Elena.

"Damon… no, I… it feels so good," she complained, her eyes sparkling with need when he bent over her.

"I know, but let me show you something which feels even better," he purred into her ear just as he pushed her pants down over her hips. Elena's panting went erratic when she felt his hands stroking over her bare skin further downward. Completely exposed she lay underneath him, drinking in his breathtaking sight. She just hesitated briefly before she started to explore his taut chest with her fingertips, letting them wander down to caress his abs and to curl them into the fine line of hair which vanished inside his pants.

Damon watched her with fascination while she let her hands wander over his upper body, her eyes gleaming with desire, her cheeks still flushed. Then, it was finally his turn to give her body the attention it absolutely deserved. Slowly, he lowered himself down to her, holding her gaze with his eyes full of devotion and sheer lust, showing her exactly what he wanted. Her eyes widened, although she wasn't surprised about what she saw written all over his face… and body.

"Are you...," Damon started but Elena was faster.

"I want you, Damon. I'm just a little scared," she admitted with her heart thundering in her chest.

"Don't be, I won't hurt you," he promised, well knowing that making love to Elena would be very different from what he usually preferred. But he loved the challenge and he would use all his knowledge to please her and to confirm her trust in him.

"I know," she whispered in response, trying desperately to steady her breathing.

Damon smiled at her, rested himself on his elbow and slipped his free hand between their bodies, caressing her breasts and stomach until his fingertips slid down across her shivering belly to finally reach her folds. His palm glided up and down her smoothness over and over again. Elena swallowed heavily, absolutely overwhelmed by the sensation of his hands on her lady parts. It didn't take long until she closed her eyes, moaned with pleasure and spread her legs willingly for Damon to access her even further. He dipped his forefinger into her already wet folds, teased her entrance and slid it back over her clit repeatedly. Elena squirmed under his touch and wasn't able to stop moaning while a rush of ecstasy flooded her body. _God, she needed more!_

"Damon… please," she begged, not sure what exactly she was asking, but _God_, all those new amazing feelings drove her nearly insane. Without thinking she spread her legs further.

"There you go," he whispered into her ear just as he inserted his finger inside her, thrusting in and out in a steady pace

"Oh my God," she gasped, covering her face with her hands and biting down on her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming while he added a second finger and circled her clit with the pad of his thumb. Within seconds her inner walls started to contract around Damon's fingers, not able to bear the pleasure and the burning feeling deep inside her any longer. She arched into him, wrapped her arms around his neck and finally buried her face at Damon's chest as her orgasm shook her body. She screamed muffled into his skin and he enfolded her in his free arm to steady her.

"You okay?" he whispered into her hair after a few moments and felt her nodding. Her sweet and innocent gestures had him smile while he kissed her forehead and caressed her back.

She needed a moment to recover, but finally she started to nibble on his delicate earlobe.

"I still want you, Damon," she whispered seductively into his ear, well knowing and embracing what would come next.

"You sure?" he wanted to know once more as he started to kiss along her jaw line, not quite sure what to do if she said no.

"Damon, if we continue to talk, I swear, I'm going to explode," she said against his shoulder. "I just want to feel you. Please, let me feel you," she begged eagerly.

"That's all I wanted to know, babe!" he answered and lowered her back onto the bed. Within the blink of an eye he was up and divested himself until he stood naked before her. Elena gasped, awestruck by the sight.

_Fuck_, _he was so big_. She chewed at her bottom lip, not sure how he should ever fit inside her, but before she could muse much longer about it, Damon was kneeling above her again. He knew exactly what she was thinking about.

"I just promised you that I'm not going to hurt you, remember?" he soothed her tenderly, placing soft kisses onto her mouth and cheeks. Elena nodded faintly between gasps.

"Good, because I don't intend otherwise," he nodded reassuringly while he looked into her sparkling eyes.

"Okay," she whispered.

Slowly, and with a tender caress, he lifted one of her legs over his hip and lowered himself between her thighs. Teasing her wet core with the tip of his cock he smiled as she groaned and lifted her hips towards him.

_What was he doing to her? It felt so good! _

He glided further down, passing her entrance just to pull out again. He went on like that a couple of times, sliding further into her with every thrust until he filled her up to the hilt. Elena panted underneath him, clawing her fists into the sheets, not knowing what to do with the burning desire which was scattered all over her body and ignited even the tiniest parts of herself with pure lust.

"Mhm… Elena, you have no idea, how amazing you feel," Damon groaned hoarsely, having a hard time to keep his thrusts gentle. He held her hips tighter and added just a little more pressure, causing Elena to moan with pleasure.

"Damon… that feels so unbelievable," she panted, digging her heels into his lower back to push him deeper inside of her and lifted her head off the mattress to claim his mouth once again. They kissed passionately while Damon picked up his pace, thrusting a little harder. Elena responded and dug her fingernails into his back, leaving long scratch marks behind. Damon tilted his head back and opened his mouth in a silent scream, grimacing with a mixture of pain and pleasure. A second later, he lowered his hot face to her neck and angledhis hips slightly towards her pubic bone, hitting her G-Spot with every thrust.

Both groaned at the same time when Elena's soaked insides started to squeeze Damon's rock-hard shaft. She couldn't hold it any longer and gave in to the overwhelming sensations, loosing control over her body as her second orgasm crashed down on her. She screamed his name in release, feeling him pumping into her until he too got lost in oblivion.

Instantly, he sank down onto her body, noticing her heartbeat pounding wildly against his chest. The odd sensation made him feel alive again because it felt as if his own heart would beat.

Floating down through all the haze, Elena smiled brightly into his shining blue eyes. Never ever had she expected sex to be like this!

"I don't know what to say, Damon," she whispered honestly, still staring into his eyes. Damon smirked mischievously at her. "So, it wasn't that bad, I guess."

"Actually I thought about the term _mind-blowing_," she grinned at him but her face turned suddenly serious.

"I know this probably sounds pretty awkward, but... I want to thank you, Damon. I never thought that I would be able to ever be with a man again, but look at us: You changed that completely and I really wouldn't want to miss what you gave to me. It was simply amazing," she told him openly and kissed him softly on his lips.

"I'm glad to hear that," he responded and finally rolled them to the side, softly slipping out of her. Elena cuddled against him and rested her head on his shoulder. Wrapping his arm around her, Damon held her silently until they both fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi!

It's time for chapter 8! Thanks to the faithful readers who reviewed. I'm always looking forward to your opinions and hope that you'll enjoy what I've written.

Thank you so much, shoppe69, for helping me again, I really appreciate it :)

**Partially, this chapter is pretty harsh, so be warned!**

Giuna

* * *

**Chapter 8**

During the next couple of weeks, Damon and Elena created something like a daily routine. They tried to find a way to live a life worth living, despite the complications arising out of their correlation. After they had slept together, it suddenly bordered on physical pain not to be near each other and that was just pretty hard to handle. It wasn't mandatory to stay in the same room, no, but once, when Damon had decided to go out buying some groceries on his own, he didn't even make it to the next block.

At first, the badly needed proximity between them felt strange, but they quickly realized that it was useless to fight against their feelings. Only when they were around one another, they were genuinely happy. It was obvious that a part of this desire was caused by their special blood connection, but both of them sensed that it got even stronger the more their feelings for each other grew. And that happened much faster than expected. The circumstance that after their first shared night, every time Damon fed on Elena ended in sex played a serious part in it. Not that they had actively tried to avoid it, but it simply hadn't been possible to resist the seductive temptation once they had crossed the barrier.

For Elena, it was a whole new world with emotions she had never believed to ever experience, not after Mason. She thought about him a lot, especially because she knew that he was near her, lurking around, waiting for her to make a mistake. He wouldn't give up on his revenge, that was something she was absolutely sure about. But she pushed the fear away, buried it deep down in her mind. For once she relished the feeling to actually live with a man who took care of her, made her feel secure and to be of value, not just because of her blood, but also for her own sake. Therefore it was all too easy to take care of him too.

Damon had told her that she would have a chance to survive, in case that something happened to him. All she needed was another vampire and a witch who would link her again. It was then, that she remembered the phone conversation between Damon and his brother and she realized what exactly his words had meant. That loophole wasn't just to save her. She could also be ripped away from Damon and that would mean his inevitable death. It must never happen. She didn't want to live without him like that; she was too happy that she finally had found someone she could… love.

"Did your brother ever tell you why this gene exists?" Elena enquired while they sat at the bar in Alaric's pub. They used to come to visit Damon's old friend a couple of times during the week because Alaric was the only person who knew about Damon and his strange link to Elena. She liked Alaric's funny but still sincere nature and always enjoyed the easy way the two guys behaved around one another.

Damon swallowed his sip of Bourbon and gave her his full attention while Alaric turned around from his work to face them, being pretty interested in this whole gene issue, too.

"He did indeed," Damon told her casually, bringing his tumbler to his lips once again.

"And?" she pushed and got more and more curious the longer he withheld his response.

"Oh, c'mon, spill it man!" Alaric hissed at him, watching his friend relishing his Bourbon a little too much and rolling his eyes while he grinned at Elena who mirrored his expression instantly.

"You know the saying that patience is a virtue?" He flashed a crooked smirk at his audience, which froze at the incredulous faces of Elena and Alaric.

"Okay, okay. But I guess I have to give a little more detail on that before I can answer the question, at least for you Elena," he started and watched his girl staring at him with furrowed brows. _Jesus, he loved her beautiful face._

"Why do I have an odd feeling right now?" she wanted to know, wondering if she needed the answer to her question any more.

"It's not too bad. Don't worry. First, you just need to understand that pretty much every supernatural being or circumstance is engendered by magic. And magic itself is a servant of nature. So, when a witch creates a spell, nature will always make sure that there is a balance between the supernatural and the ordinary part of the population. We know that vampirism was created by magic and actually we thought that the balance had been restored by the weak spots nature had forced on the vampires. You know, that we normally can't walk in the sun, that a wooden stake through our hearts causes death and that we get weakened by an herb called vervain," he informed her, but before he could continue, Elena interrupted him.

"No, I don't know, because you never told me," she retorted.

"Oops!" Alaric made a face that literally screamed of malicious glee.

"Shut up, Ric," Damon barked at him and rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't necessary yet," Damon tried to calm her down.

"Are you kidding me? It wasn't necessary, yet? Damon, I need to know about such things! What if something happens to you?" she nearly shouted at him, not getting how he could be so calm.

"I told you before that we're going to find a back-up vampire for you!" he threw back at her, piercing Elena with his aquamarine blue eyes, which suddenly seemed to glow.

"I know what you told me, but I don't what another freaking vampire, Damon, I want to be with you!" she blurted out in anger, not thinking about the weight of her words.

Damon's harsh glare softened instantly and he took Elena's hand in his, petting her palm soothingly with his thumb.

"I understand that you're upset, but please remember how old I am. I know exactly how to defend myself and for the record, the older a vampire is the stronger he gets. Since you know that I am a really old guy, you can surely imagine that I'm fucking strong!" he grinned at her and winked mischievously.

Elena attempted to suppress the smile jerking in the corner of her mouth but wasn't successful at all.

"I can sign that, Elena, I've seen him in action plenty of times," Alaric mentioned while he dried some glasses, a longing grin on his face.

"And how comes, that you can walk in the sun, then? I thought at first it might be a myth," she wondered, staring at him with a question mark imprinted on her flawless face.

"I've got a ring. It is, of course, witch-made. My brother has one, too. But there aren't many vampires who are as lucky as we are." He showed Elena his ring and she examined it in awe.

"You know, witches and vampires aren't what you would call besties, so it's difficult to get such jewellery," Damon added.

"And if you would take it off? You would…," she couldn't bring herself to speak the words.

"Burn, yes," Damon finished the sentence for her, still caressing the inside of her hand.

"And what about the vervain?" Elena requested, glancing at Damon with sorrowful eyes.

"Oh, let _me_ answer that, _please_?" Alaric requested, exited like a small child on its birthday.

"You're such a sadist!" Damon growled in Alaric's direction, shaking his head unnerved.

"Yeah, but hey, could you blame me?" he wanted to know, made his best puppy eyes and caused Damon to throw his head back and laugh out loud.

"Go ahead, dick! Tsk…and you're calling yourself a friend!" he pronounced and took a big gulp of his glass, ignoring Alaric's smug countenance.

"Vervain is the most effective and easiest way to weaken a vampire. Once vampires get in contact with this herb, it corrodes their skin. Of course you could also inject its essence directly into their system which grants you a blacked out vampire within seconds. Actually, it's a very useful thing," Alaric ended, pretty pleased with himself.

"That's disgusting, Alaric," Elena ranted at him. "You sound as if you've used it against a vampire before…," she speculated shocked.

"Oh, you can count on that!" Damon confirmed her assumption, grinning at Alaric in remembrance.

"You used it on Damon?" Elena shouted, totally mad. "How _could_ you?"

"Whoa, calm down. It was before we officially met. It was the way I handled vampires in the past, so I didn't exactly excuse myself when I ran into Damon. Unfortunately, I underestimate him and got a good hiding. But still… it could have worked," Alaric smirked.

"That means you're kind of a vampire hunter?" Elena dug deeper, frowning at him.

"Don't look at me this way. Just because your vampire is a little puppy doesn't mean that they're all are nice and cozy. Just like Damon wasn't all the time -"

"Enough, Ric!" Damon warned him harshly, giving Elena a quick insecure glance.

"Don't bother, Damon. I'm not stupid. You didn't seem puppy-like during our first encounter, so I'm aware of you being dangerous. And although I don't even want to imagine what you might have done to other people, what counts for me is the way you act around me now. I'm not afraid of you anymore. I -," she stopped at that point, quickly waving her hand dismissively.

Damon's eyes narrowed at her interruption. He was sure that what she had wanted to say was important to her, but he left it at that.

"Back on topic, then," Damon changed the subject, drowning the last content of his tumbler.

"So, as I said before, nature is always keeping the balance between the supernatural and the ordinary part of the world. With the creation of the vampires a disbalance had emerged and to fix that, nature created a special kind of humans to protect the others. Humans endowed with a specific gene to be linked to a vampire, ensuring that the vampire can't feed on anyone except the blood-slave. Just like you," he explained and winked at Elena.

"Mmh, but something went wrong anyway, didn't it? I mean, otherwise every vampire would have a… b-s," Elena stated slightly ashamed

"A b-s?" Damon chuckled at her shortcut.

"Don't laugh at me! I'm just not the biggest fan of the term blood-slave, okay?" she pointed out, leading Damon and Alaric to share a meaningful glare.

"Whatever. And yes, you're right. According to Stefan the vampire population increased faster than the gene was transmitted. Mainly because it is necessary for the human to reproduce before meeting the vampire. Those circumstances led to the result, that the b-s," Damon grinned at the use of Elena's shortcut, "kind of ceased. Actually, according to what Elijah told Stefan, there aren't many left," he ended and searched Elena's face for a reaction and what he saw left him concerned.

"That means, vampires can't procreate?" she asked quietly, when the full meaning for her own life sank in.

"No, we can't," Damon confirmed her suspicion, feeling a lump building in his throat when he saw the shock on Elena's face.

She started to fumble with her hands in her lap, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Damon and Alaric. It cost her everything to keep the tears from falling. As ugly as her past had been, the hope to be a mother one day had never died, just until this very moment. She would never be able to give birth and to witness the miracle of life which she imagined a newborn to be. She swallowed hard, suddenly not able to keep it together any longer.

"Excuse me, please. I'll be right back!" she whispered, pulling her hand away from under Damon's and fled to the ladies' room.

Elena stumbled into the restroom and straight to the sink, supporting herself against the cool, white basin. Breathing heavily, a bunch of images rushed through her head. Images of a future she had once looked forward to, images she had used to distract herself from the painful reality she had lived through with Mason. And now, all the hope and all the happiness she had felt, picturing herself with a baby in her arms, feeling its soft skin, smelling this wonderful scent only newborns had, slipped away and left her numb inside. She felt warm tears trickling down her hot cheeks and dripping silently into the sink. How could that be her fate? How should she ever be genuinely happy without the one thing she had wished for herself the most?

She turned the faucet on and held her hands into the cool water. Splashing some of it into her tearstained face she hoped it would help her to regain her composure. It didn't help the slightest, though, within seconds Elena's whole body was shaking from sobs, and she let herself sink down to the dirty floor. She hugged her legs tightly to her body, burying her face between her knees and chest to muffle the sounds of her crying. She didn't want Damon to hear her. It wasn't his fault; he wasn't the one with the gene. Why hadn't she known about it much earlier in her life? Had her mother known about it? Probably not and even if she had, it was too late anyway. But too late or not, she could really use her mom right now. Thinking about her mom and dad, the grief about their loss suddenly crashed down on her with a rush of adrenaline, leaving her with the feeling that her head was about to explode.

Panting heavily from the approaching panic attack, she heard the door to the restrooms open. Sighing, she expected Damon to come looking for her and lifted her head to face him. But who she saw instead, made her blood freeze.

"Trouble in paradise?" Mason's all too familiar voice demanded sarcastically right next to her ear, and before Elena was able to react in any way everything went black.

Damon stared helplessly after her as she left for the ladies' room. He exhaled sharply with sympathy. While he had still been human, there had been a time Damon had wanted a family of his own, too. But those longings had been buried a long time ago and he could only imagine that the loss of the opportunity to have biological children was a lot harder to handle for a woman than for a man. He hadn't been aware of Elena's obviously big ambition to be a mother one day; otherwise he would have chosen an entirely different way to fill her in.

Forcefully he ran his hands through his hair, rubbed his face with his palms and rested his underarms on the wooden surface of the bar, hanging his head with an unhappy sigh.

"Shit, man," Alaric verbalised, comradly clasping a hand on his shoulder.

"Damn it, Ric. Everything went perfectly fine the last couple of weeks. I thought she started to be really happy, but this… this could ruin everything," he pointed out, clenching his hands into fists.

"No, Damon, don't say that. From what I've witnessed during the last weeks, I'm sure that she honestly likes you. She just needs time to cope with this new information," Alaric tried to console him and nodded; emphasizing his words.

"Maybe so," Damon whispered in discomfort, he wasn't so sure about it. It hadn't been easy to get to this point in their relationship. Elena seemed to have moved on, but he knew that this wasn't the whole truth; nobody could recover from what she had been through within weeks, not even with help. Although they slept together and she definitely enjoyed it, he was fully aware of the fact that this couldn't have healed her from her disgusting experiences. Surely it would take years for her to fully recover from that. She wasn't mentally stable yet, and so vulnerable that something like this revelation could destroy her in the blink of an eye.

After a couple of minutes he could hear her sobbing uncontrollably. The sound of her sadness let his heart clench in pain. Overpowered by her emotions he tried hard to block out her heartbreaking crying, not knowing how to handle it. At first, he seemed to be successful in avoiding her weeping, but suddenly everything changed. A feeling of strong gravity filled his whole body, a gravity that caused his skin to hurt as if it would be ripped away from his bones while it pulled him towards Elena.

"You okay?" Alaric asked, seeing his friend's face contorting with pain.

"No, something is wrong!" Damon forced his legs to move and hopped off the barstool, heading for the ladies' room in an instant.

"Damon, what…," Alaric started but stopped in the middle of the sentence to run after his friend.

Damon pushed the restroom's door open and drew a sharp breath.

"What is it?" Alaric demanded and shoved Damon's stiffened figure aside to glimpse into the room as well.

"Where is she?" Alaric wanted to know while his eyes frantically searched the ladies' room.

"She is gone," Damon breathed out, staring at the open window on the opposite side of the restroom. He didn't get it and shook his head in disbelief. She wouldn't run again, would she? Desperately, Damon ran his hands through his hair again and punched his fist against the door with almost all his strength.

"Fuck, Ric!" he screamed, angry with himself for being such a coward to shut her out only a few minutes ago, otherwise he would have heard her climbing out of the window.

"Would she really run away, again?" Alaric dared to ask.

"I thought we had put that behind us. I don't get it, Ric. She trusts me; she knows that she could have talked to me about it! God, we would have found a way!" Damon got carried away as realization hit him like a slap in the face.

"No!" The word slipped his mouth in desperation.

"What?" Alaric demanded impatiently.

"Did you see anybody entering the bar after Elena came here?" Damon interrogated, indicating to the room.

"Um, let me think. Just one guy, if I remember correctly. Why?"

"She didn't run, Alaric," Damon shouted, crossing the room and climbed onto the window still. "Mason took her," Damon added, before he jumped out of the window, following the pull that radiated from Elena, leading him in the right direction.

Elena opened her eyes confused and disoriented, just to find nothing but darkness surrounding her. _What the hell had happened?_

She leaned against a cold brick wall, her head felt dizzy and her whole body ached in unbelievable pain. She needed Damon. _Where was Damon?_ And where the hell was she to begin with?

And then the memory of the last thing she had seen before passing out washed over her, leaving her completely breathless and panicking. _No, no, no,_ she begged silently in her head. _Please no._ She couldn't keep the tears from falling.

"You have every reason to cry, 'Lena," Mason's frightening voice whispered straight into her ear, making her hair stand all over her body while she suppressed to scream with overwhelming desperation.

Suddenly, light filled the midsized storage room she was trapped in and Mason grabbed her chin harshly with his right hand, forcing her to face him.

"God, I missed you so damn much," he growled against her neck, slipping out his wet tongue and sliding it all over her cheek. Elena's eyes widened in disgust and shock and she momentarily turned her head away from him and tried to escape his strong grip.

"Ugh! Let go of me, Mason!" she hissed at him, struggling against him as much as she could with her still pain-filled body.

"No, I don't think so. Actually, I think you have a lot to make up for your unbelievably pathetic behaviour. First you ran and only a couple of days later you've got a new stallion. Damn, you're in a sore need of it, aren't you?" he grinned sickly at her, resting his free hand on her upper leg, stroking it intimately.

Elena froze in place, having a hard time to keep herself from gagging. _Where was Damon?_ Tears started to fall all over again, realizing that she was all alone with the monster next to her shaking body.

"Come on, 'Lena, you know you missed me too. Don't be like that," he purred calmly and tapped his fingertips further up her thighs.

Elena remained silent and closed her eyes, frantically searching her mind for a sanctuary to flee to. When she found Damon's face with one of his beautiful bright smiles, which lit up his whole face, she held on to that as strongly as she could.

"It's a shame, that we got only tonight," he whispered when he buried his nose in her hair. "But I can't live with you any longer, 'Lena. You really disappointed me and I can't condone what you've done. Therefore, I decided to put you out of your miserable existence. But first, I will thoroughly enjoy my vengeance," Mason explained her cattily, punching his fist forcefully against her core. Elena couldn't suppress the scream which escaped her mouth the moment the blow hit her and the new kind of pain rushed through her body, clouding her view. Before she could see clear again she heard a strange sound, like the deep growl of a predatory animal and hope sank in to her surrendering mind.

"Take your fucking hands off her!" Damon roared at the entrance of the storage room.

"Oh, isn't that cozy. Look, Elena, your lover is going to join us," Mason warbled and didn't even look the slightest bit surprised, way too sure about his ability to knock his antagonist out.

"Hey, man, come closer and I will show you how this little bitch here likes it best," he spat out, squeezing Elena's breast violently. But before the whimper could even escape Elena's dry mouth, Damon stood right in front of her and Mason, glaring hatefully down at him, with blood shot eyes and showing his threatening fangs.

Mason's eyes widened with shock, completely overwhelmed by the sight right in front of him.

In a fraction of a second, Damon glimpsed at Elena, searching her figure for any kind of major damage, noticing the totally scared way her shaking body huddled on the cold concrete ground. His hate for the rapist of his girl increased immensely and a dangerous smile lingered on his true face.

In vampire speed, Damon grabbed Mason by the throat and pulled him up in the air, his feet dangling in the air, searching for the ground. Mason gasped helplessly and stared shell-shocked into the red glowing eyes of the beast in front of him.

"Much better. If I had to listen to the fucking bullshit you were talking about any longer, let alone seeing you adulterating_my_ girl, I would have ripped you to shreds by now!" Damon growled with a deep and menacing voice. Mason's face already started to turn blue at the last words of Damon's sentence.

"But what a waste would that be, right? I'm going to make you suffer for the last two years of hell you've put Elena through. And then, I'm going to kill you… slowly, very slowly," Damon filled in Mason, causing a rush of adrenaline whipping through the man's body when the information finally reached his mind.

In the next second, Damon hurled Mason's limp body on the hard ground with such force that his head started to bleed the moment it came in contact with it. Mason screamed with pain, attempted to turn around onto his stomach, but Damon didn't allow that.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I wouldn't," Damon hissed at Mason, lifted his leg, placed his right leather boot right onto the heaving chest and shifted his weight straight onto it, making it impossible for Mason to breath steadily.

"So, Mason, now, that your number is up, is there anything you want to say?" Damon questioned way too sweetly, staring down into the face of the man he would enjoy killing soon.

"What ever she told you is a lie! She wanted it too!" Mason whispered hoarsely, holding on to the last piece of hope to escape this situation.

"Poor Mason, that was the wrong answer!" Damon growled down, lifted his foot from Mason's chest, lunged out and kicked the metal cap of his boots straight between his legs without holding back. Mason's scream stuck in his throat as the white pulsating agony hit his body, spreading into every tiny inch of it.

Elena flinched in shock, wrapping her arms around her bent legs and cradled herself back and forth. Their had been a time, she had imagined to hurt Mason just the way he had hurt her, but now, witnessing such violence, it made her sick. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill her, right? And she knew that he would have never given up on this plan until she would have lain limp in his arms. With that thought swirling in her head, she closed her eyes and waited for the nightmare to end… forever.

The shift in Elena's position didn't escape Damon's notice, and although he had planned for Mason to suffer much longer, he knew that it would have destroyed Elena. So he changed his mind and said goodbye to the plan of slicing Mason's cock off his body and feeding it to him alive.

He turned away from the man and tried to regain his composure, thinking about a new plan, when Mason used his last chance.

"'Lena, please, have mercy!" he begged in a whimpering voice, searching for her eyes. Hearing the nick name again which Mason had given her a long time ago, Elena winced once more.

At the sound of Mason's voice, Damon swirled around and lunged at him again.

"Don't. You. Dare. Talk. To. Her!" Damon screamed at him, totally out of control, kicking his nuts at every single word. When Damon was done, Mason's body lay knocked out on the ground. He hadn't even flinched at the last two kicks. Damon stood over him, his whole demeanour hateful, boiling with rage. He breathed heavily. Avoiding to look at Elena, Damon bent down to Mason's head, gripped it firmly and broke the neck with a forceful swing of his hands.

One loud crack, a hollow sound, and suddenly there was nothing left but an eerie silence.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello and welcome back to chapter 9!

Thank's to all of you for reading this story and of course for the nice reviews, favs and follows :)

As always, thank you so much shoppe69 for your help and also for your own incredible stories you share with us!

I hope you'll like chapter 9. Can't wait to read what you think about it ;)

Giuna

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Damon stood perfectly still and stared down to the dead man on the ground below him. He panted heavily, although he wasn't out of breath. He didn't dare to glance over to where Elena still sat on the cold floor.

_What was she thinking of him right now? Was she afraid?_

When he saw her moving from the corner of his eye, he finally turned and hurried over to help her up.

"Are you okay?" he whispered insecurely, steadying her so she could stand upright. Being near her again and unexpectedly receiving a wave of rewarding and soothing vibes from her body and her blood, he forgot all his fears instantly and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.

"I think so," Elena breathed, although her body still hurt terribly, and cuddled against his warm and comforting chest without hesitation.

"I'm so glad you came," she wanted to add but her voice failed her as she started to cry before she could finish the sentence.

Damon caressed her back while she whimpered into his shirt, feeling horrible since he hadn't been able to avoid the kidnap in the first place.

"Is he really dead?" she sobbed after a couple of minutes.

"Yes, he is," Damon replied, expecting that the reality of Mason's death would finally cause Elena to back away from him.

It took her some time to take in the reality behind his words, but when the meaning hit her eventually, she felt freed; as if at least a part of her burden that she had carried much too long was finally lifted from her shoulders.

She searched her mind for the tiniest bit of compassion for Mason, but quickly realized that she couldn't find any.

"You okay, Elena?" Damon interrogated again since she remained silent for longer than he was able to endure. He waited for her to say something; anything.

"I am," she replied quietly, not liking the dark way she felt about Mason. It wasn't right to wish death to anybody and actually she hadn't, but now that he was dead she wasn't sorry either.

"I know it must sound cruel and mean, but… thank you, Damon," she admitted shyly and utterly unsure about what he was thinking of her now.

Damon frowned, not sure if he could believe her words.

"You're thanking me?" he asked in wonder, not knowing what he had done to deserve this.

Elena just nodded embarrassed.

"It's not right. I know, but-," she began to exculpate herself but Damon stopped her promptly.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I completely understand the way you feel, it's just that I thought you would be afraid of me now," he explained and scrutinized her eyes urgently.

"No, I'm not afraid of you," she said and started to stroke the hair on the back of his neck tenderly.

"It would be a lie if I said that it wasn't really terrifying to witness such violence, but nonetheless, I'm glad that he is gone now," she added silently.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me like this anyway. I mean, you said earlier that you were aware of me being dangerous, but please understand that I didn't do it on a whim. The second I realized what he did to you, the hate within me increased more and more and I… I just wasn't able to keep myself under control. I needed to avenge you," he said apologetically, letting his eyes dart between hers.

"I know," she whispered and slightly smiled at him, but secretly hoped she would never see Damon like this again. She understood him all too well, though, "You just wanted to protect me and I really appreciate it, Damon. Otherwise he would've killed me…"

"Elena?" Damon asked her after a while they just stared into each others eyes, desperate to tell her what was bothering him.

"Yes?"

I'm so sorry I came too late…," he said with a shame filled voice, holding her even tighter. Damon rested his cheek against Elena's head and stroked her back gently, hoping with all his might that Mason hadn't injured her seriously.

"It wasn't your fault, Damon," she stated clearly, sensing Damon's dismay in his suddenly heavy breathing against her hair wishing he would believe her.

"I promised he wouldn't hurt you again, Elena," he pressed through clenched teeth. "Promised you!" he emphasized as he felt the failure pinching him painfully.

"Please, don't blame yourself, Damon," she begged and tilted her head back so he could see the conviction in her eyes. When Damon returned the gaze, Elena cringed and could barely swallow around the lump in her throat. His beautiful blue eyes which used to shine so brightly at her the last couple of weeks appeared momentarily empty.

"If somebody is to blame, than it's Mason! He is the one ruining everything. Or at least he was," she said in a small voice and glanced over to the stock-still body which used to be the man frightening her most.

Damon loosened his embrace with the intent to cup her cheeks, when instead Elena's legs gave out under her and she almost collapsed to the ground.

"Whoa, Elena, what's wrong?" Damon's concerned voice filled the dump storage room as he kept her from falling.

"I… I don't know I…," she stuttered, not able to put into words what exactly was wrong with her.

"Are you injured? What is it, Elena?" he pushed her to get an answer which he could work with.

"My whole body hurts…," she whimpered, quite startled how long she had been able to nearly block it out completely.

"Fuck," Damon whispered and lifted her up bridal-style.

"Let's get you out of here," he told her soothingly and kissed her temple softly. Elena murmured something indefinable and rested her head against his shoulder once Damon had started to move.

With one last time glance to the ground she saw Mason's now strange looking face immediately and bade goodbye to the man that had tortured her for such an incredibly long time. She also said goodbye to her past, which would never haunt her in the same horrible way again. At least that's what she thought at that moment. Closing her eyes, she found comfort in the gentle waves of sleep, which wrapped her up in cotton wool and washed the pain away.

When Elena opened her eyes again, she found herself in the comfort of Damon's bed. The light in the room was dimmed which she really appreciated since her head ached so badly it felt like a sledgehammer hitting it over and over again.

"Damon?" she murmured quietly as she felt the urge to be close to him spreading through her body. Only one second later, he stood at the threshold.

"Hey, you're up," he smiled at her and vamp speeded over to the bed, sitting down next to her.

"How do you feel?" he wanted to know, but noticed promptly that she was still in pain.

"Could be better," she said honestly and swallowed heavily.

"Here, drink something," he ordered and turned around to grasp the glass of water he had placed on the nightstand right after he had placed her onto the bed.

"Thank you." Elena took the water from Damon and sipped at it. He was right, the cool water did her well and she managed to bring herself in a sitting position. She emptied the content of her glass and handed it back to him.

"Can I get you anything else?" Damon questioned, still concerned about her wellbeing.

"No, thanks, but I would love to take a shower. I feel… dirty," she admitted and knew that Damon would understand what she was referring to. Fortunately, this would be the last time she needed to wash Mason off of her.

"Of course," he replied and stood up to give her space.

Elena put her feet on the ground and waited a moment for her dizzy mind to regain its composure. When she felt save to stand up, she reached for Damon's hands, he held outstretched in front of her, and let him pull her onto her feet. Damon watched her every move and supported her even more as she moaned quietly.

"Maybe you should wait a little longer?" he suggested, but Elena shook her head fiercely.

"No, I just want to get it over with. Rather sooner than later," she insisted and started to walk to the bathroom. Damon escorted her right by her side, holding her hand all the way.

"Do you need any help?" he asked carefully when they reached the bathroom, well knowing what her answer would be, but he wanted her to internalize that he was there for her, no matter what.

Elena clenched her teeth and stared to the ground. She didn't want to reject Damon, not after he felt so bad for her, but she needed to do this on her own.

"Your offer means a lot to me, Damon, but I can't… I… I just need some time alone," she said sincerely and smiled at him apologetically.

"It's fine with me," he smiled back at her, cupping and caressing her cheek, before he turned to the kitchen.

"I'll go and make some dinner for you, okay?" he offered and nodded in her direction.

"That would be great," she responded, giving him a loving smile, which made his eyes shine brightly again.

Elena entered the bathroom and closed the door which Damon had replaced during their first week together. She walked over to the sink, looked at herself in the mirror and gasped. She looked horrible. All pale and ill and definitely not like her current self.

Exhaling sharply, she began to undress and unbuttoned her jeans. It took her a while until she had removed the tight fabric from her legs and ankles because her body ached with every move she made.

Pulling her shirt over her head posed the greatest challenge. It felt like all her vertebrae had been dislocated, so she needed to close her eyes and clench her jaw to be able to take the pain. Just when she had been successful and only her slip and bra remained on her slender body, Elena opened her eyes again and stared into the mirror.

Her face contorted with sheer consternation and she screamed out loud, covering her eyes with her hands while she sank to the ground.

Without premonition the bathroom door flew open and Damon ran inside, his eyes widening when he got a view of Elena, who had rolled up into a small shaking ball on the floor. He bent over her instantly, but didn't dare to touch her back which was blotched all over with dark purple bruises.

"Oh my God, Elena! What did he do to you?" Damon panicked, not capable of hiding the shock in his voice.

"Come here, please," he begged and encircled her hurt body with his strong arms, desperately hoping that she would let him hold her.

Sobbing badly, Elena responded immediately and managed to crawl into his lap, throwing her arms around his neck. While she positioned her fragile figure on his lap, Damon's eyes roamed over her, determining the full extent of her injuries. It wasn't just her back which was covered with nasty looking blue marks, but also her stomach, chest and ribcage.

Mason must have kicked her relentlessly.

_This fucking asshole was lucky being dead already! _

"Shh, it's going to be fine, Elena. Please calm down. I'll heal you. Everything is going to be fine," he tried to sooth her, patted her hair gently but had a hard time to keep his own emotions at bay.

"Damon, I… I had no idea!" she stuttered totally on edge. "I thought the pain had something to do with us being separated from one another for too long."

"I don't understand. When did he do that to you and why can't you even remember? Argh… that bastard," he barked when realization hit him.

"He drugged me the moment he caught me. I guess, I blacked out for a couple of minutes," Elena whispered against Damon's shoulder. Her tears soaked his shirt while her mind invented images of herself getting hurt by a furious Mason, trying to replace the black hole the unconsciousness had left behind.

Damon exhaled noisily and started to clench his jaw over and over again, not sure if he was allowed to ask what he so frantically needed to know.

"Did he… did he rape you again?" he forced the words out of his mouth and waited for Elena's answer with tightly closed eyes.

_Why hadn't he sliced off Mason's goddamn cock?_

"No, Damon. He didn't," she said with a small voice, momentarily ashamed of his question.

"You sure?" he demanded softly.

"I am sure… Believe me, I would know… I would feel it," she said while new drops ran down her tearstained cheeks.

"God, Elena, I'm so sorry." Damon swallowed, feeling his throat constricting as the guilt crept back into his mind, contaminating every good emotion he had left inside.

"Damon, stop it!" she said, louder as intended and with a surprisingly clear voice. She tilted her head back, so she was capable to lock eyes with him, letting him see the fire that sparkled there. "I can't handle it. Okay? I can't handle you blaming yourself for something that obviously isn't your fault. You need to stop it!" she commanded firmly, her tears promptly forgotten. After all, she was the pro in this matter and she knew what it meant to feel this way.

"But it is my fault," he breathed out and looked away; he couldn't see her in the eye anymore.

"No it's-," she started, but Damon interrupted her.

"It is, Elena. While you have been in the restroom, I've heard you crying. It was horrible to listen to you being so sad and shaken at the new information, it felt like I could sense the way you were suffering. And I just wasn't strong enough to stand it any longer. So I shut you out. That's why I didn't hear Mason catch you. Therefore, it's completely and utterly my fault," he insisted with sadness resonating in every syllable.

Elena stared at Damon, drinking in the way he looked. His eyes seemed darker than usual; the fine wrinkles on his forehead suddenly deeper and his lips built a straight line, obviously to disguise the contempt he felt for himself but he wasn't able to hide it from Elena anyway.

"Everything I get from what you just said is that I'm grateful for how deep your compassion towards me actually is. I should have known that, Damon. I should have had more trust in you. I had no reason to run away, hiding my feelings from you because you would have been there for me. I'm sorry, too, Damon," she entrusted herself to him, caressing his cheek, which was still turned away from her, but forced him gently to meet her eyes at the end of the sentence.

Damon's devastated expression lighted up slightly as Elena smiled encouraging straight into his eyes.

"Let's just say this whole crap was a string of unpleasant events, okay?" Elena suggested and nodded emphatically.

"It's not that easy, Elena," Damon objected, although he was tempted to accept the loophole she was offering.

"You're wrong, Damon! It is that easy. You taught me that, by the way. I don't blame you and I'm sure, you don't blame me either. End of story!" she pointed out and her eyes sparkled again.

Damon gazed at her. Elena's sincere words lifted the ache from his heart and wiped the feeling of guilt off him like a hand brush. Only a few shards of an old pain kept sticking to his heart, and maybe would until the end.

"Deal?" she requested fiercely and accomplished to execute one of his crooked smirks.

Damon grinned at her in relief, suddenly totally aware of the turn their situation had taken. Actually he had wanted to comfort her, but at the end it was the other way around. She was indeed a peculiar little thing. And he loved that. _Loved her?_

"Deal!" he agreed, although he knew that it would take some time until he would really be able to live with it.

For a few seconds he stared softly into her exhausted but still beautiful face and held on to all the extraordinary and heart-warming feelings he cherished for the girl in front of him deep down in his stomach.

_Jesus, he was so happy to have her back!_

During their separation, he hadn't even once thought about himself, he realized just in that moment. Maybe he really loved her. But how should he know for sure? The last time he had been in love with a woman, was a very, very long time ago.

Damon reached out his hand and brushed the back of his fingers against her wet but velvet cheeks. He craned his neck to close the short distance between them and stopped only inches away from her lips. Damon wanted her back, body and soul, to erase whatever shadow Mason had left behind again.

"Let me heal you," he breathed against her lips, swaying his eyes between hers and her lips, catching her off guard but not unwelcome.

"Damon, I-," she began, but Damon was faster.

"Shh," he hushed her and brushed his mouth against hers, kissing her softly so they could find themselves again. Elena relaxed within seconds, responding to his softness and the beautiful familiarity between them.

_But didn't he say he wanted to heal her? _The thought didn't last long in Elena's mind as Damon deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue demandingly over her full bottom lip. She immediately opened her mouth for him, letting his tongue swirl and dance around her own one while she was shifting in his lap, straddling him, before she moved her hands up to the back of his neck, tickling his short hair gently.

Damon wrapped his arms around her sides to cup her butt, pulling her firmly against his body, enjoying her silken tongue, which played with his in such perfection that he almost forgot about his actual intention.

_Fuck! _He cursed himself for not having healed her yet. _Damn._ She was just way too distracting. He then quickly elongated his teeth, deprived his tongue from hers and sliced it over his fangs, leading it to bleed as he did.

"Mhmm," Elena moaned into his mouth, when the first drops of his blood came in touch with the delicate skin on her tongue, blinking a couple of times in wonder before her eyes closed again with relish. Slowly, she started to twist the tip of her tongue around Damon's, collecting all the well tasting droplets that made her feel like herself again. All the pain instantly vanished into thin air and although she wasn't able to watch the bruises heal, she could tell from her condition the second they couldn't be seen anymore.

While the energy ran back into her body, Elena deepened the kiss, pushed herself further against him and couldn't resist the temptation of his blood, which would stop leaving the little cut way too fast. She gripped Damon's neck firmly as she closed her lips around his tongue and started to suck wildly.

_Holy shit! _Damon groaned at the unexpected but oh-so welcome sensation.

_Oh Fuck! It felt glorious_. He squeezed her butt tightly in response and felt himself harden at the same time.

Damon felt himself pushing against Elena's hot core and moaned again, enjoying every second she sucked his tongue.

"Mhmm…" He could hear from her again, before she released his swollen tongue and threw her head back, flipping some strands of her sleek hair over her shoulder while she licked her lips clean. Her eyes shone straight into his soul.

"Thank you, Damon," she said in a challenging voice and narrowed her eyes a little bit.

"You're very welcome, Elena," Damon breathed out, trembling inwardly.

Elena bent forward to reach his ear; her breasts brushed his chest while she whispered so quietly that only a vampire would be able to hear her "I want to belong to you again. Take him away from me, please," she begged.

Damon's heart melted at her soft demand and cupped her cheeks with his strong hands, stroking them with his thumbs.

"You'll belong to me again. I'll take him away from you," he answered her, as if she was compelling him. Elena smiled shyly in return.

With Elena in his arms, Damon pushed himself in a standing position and dropped her onto the tiles in front of him. Smiling at her tenderly, he grabbed around her back and opened the clasp of her bra, removing the straps with his fingertips over each shoulder at the same time and let it fall to the ground. He stepped closer then, kissing her cheeks, her neck, and her chest while he let his palms glide down the backside of her body, lowering himself further and further. When he finally squatted in front of her, he slipped his fingers into the thin fabric of her black panties, right under the small of her back.

The slight touches of his fingers lead her to shiver, and even more so when those fingers circled around her hips in a swift move to pull her panties down her legs.

Damon could hear her heart thundering in her chest and smiled to himself at her accelerated breathing when he blew on the goose bumps, which were shown all the way up to her face.

"Let's take a shower together," he suggested and shoved her towards the shower stall, undressing himself in vamp speed while he stood behind her.

"Don't you want to remove your clo… Oh!" She stopped talking the moment she felt Damon's rock hard erection against her tailbone.

Damon smirked mischievously against the back of her head, rested his hands onto her hips and guided her inside the stall.

When he entered behind her, Elena turned around, stepped as close to him as humanly possible, rested her head against his shoulder and held on to Damon's buffed biceps while he turned on the perfectly tempered spray.

The hot water ran down their bodies, and for a while they just stood there, relishing the proximity in wonderful silence.

Damon was the first to move, but only to grasp Elena's shower gel, pouring a little amount of the orange scented liquid into his hand and started to massage her back. With both hands he patterned big circles on her skin, before he tuned upwards to reach her neck. His thumbs rubbed over her uptight vertebrae and then over her shoulders and along her arms.

Leisurely, Damon turned Elena's fragile body around, so she could rest her back against him. She closed her eyes completely eased, reached out her arms backwards and encircled Damon's butt with her hands, petting the softness of his skin over and over again.

Damon poured some more of the shower gel into his hand, leaned his head and shoulder against the soaked wall and closed his eyes too, when he began to soap up her stomach. His slick hands glided around her bellybutton, up her ribcage and slowed down just before he reached her breasts.

Elena moaned silently and then a little louder as his hands enclosed the fullness of her breasts. Kneading them gently, Damon nibbled on her earlobe, sucking on it slightly. The hot invasion of her erogenous zones led a wave of pure pleasure rushing up and down her spine. Without thinking, she grabbed his neck firmly and pulled his face down to her lips. Uninhibited, Elena parted her lips and shoved her tongue into his mouth, kissing him passionately while he caressed her nipples with both hands at a time.

"Mhmm, Elena," Damon groaned against her lips, suddenly totally aware of how damn much he needed her. While his left hand remained on her breast, his right hand wandered down again, brushing her toned stomach and petted further south. As he reached the smooth skin on her pubic bone, he just hesitated briefly and ran his hand between her legs straight over her heated core.

Considering her clean enough, Damon turned them a little, so the water would wash away the soap on Elena's skin.

Kissing and caressing her all the time, he soon felt her own sleek liquid on his fingertips, using it instantly to caress her sweet bundle of nerves.

Elena moaned in response and started to wriggle in his arms. In response, Damon slid his index finger along her slit, dipped in and out of her entrance while his thumb remained stimulating her clit.

Elena became more and more unsettled and when she felt her inner walls tighten, she pulled away from his mouth and hands, and turned to face Damon just to offer him her cocked leg, which she pushed against the side of his upper leg; her eyes full of need and her face contorted with a silent plea.

Surprised, but also incredibly turned on by her request, Damon grabbed her leg and pushed her carefully against the cool shower wall. As Elena held on to his shoulders for support, he stared into her eyes searching for her silent consent. Again, her eyes sparkled with fire, but they were full of desperation as well. Desperation, he began to understand as he reflected the way she had behaved the last hour. She wanted to forget. And she wanted it badly. And that was exactly, what he was going to do for her.

Still holding her gaze and only inches away from her face, Damon positioned himself at her entrance, stroking her with the tip of his cock to wet himself.

He didn't wait long. The moment he kissed her, he thrust into her, giving her some time to adjust, before he pulled out just to push inside of her again, further this time.

Elena clawed her nails into his shoulders, earning a low groan from Damon while he thrust in and out of her at a perfect pace, giving her time to build up again and to drown in the sensation of being so close to him, to belong with him and only him.

Damon rested his forehead against Elena's shoulder, his face a lustful grimace.

A few seconds later, Damon felt Elena squeezing around him and he caught her gaze again. In awe, he witnessed when she lost control over herself and thrust a little harder and shifted slightly, rubbing his hard member against her front wall, hitting her g-spot perfectly.

"Ah… Damon," she nearly screamed out as her orgasm crashed down on her.

"You're mine, Elena," Damon told her groaning, when his own release rushed through him.


End file.
